World Bank to lend $650 million for 1,840 km long Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor between Ludhiana and Kolkata

NEW DELHI: The World Bank on Wednesday approved $650 million (about Rs 4,000 crore) worth of loans for the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, which seeks to facilitate faster and efficient movement of goods between India’s northern and eastern parts.

“The World Bank is supporting the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor as a series of projects in which three sections will be delivered sequentially, but with considerable overlap in their construction schedules,” the Bank said in a statement.

The Eastern Corridor is 1,840 km-long and extends from Ludhiana to Kolkata. The project is expected to help raise capacity of these freight-only lines and develop institutional capacity of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India to build and maintain infrastructure network, the World Bank statement said.

“Implementing the Dedicated Freight Corridor programme will provide India the opportunity to create one of the world's largest freight operations. The corridor, which will pass through states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, will benefit from the new rail infrastructure, bringing jobs and muchneeded development to some of India's poorest regions,” said World Bank Country Director (India) Onno Ruhl.