World Bank approves Rs 4500 cr loan for Eastern freight corridor project

DELHI: The World Bank has approved about Rs 4500 crore loan for the 343 kilometre stretch on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor Project.

This Project, which comes under the Dedicated Freight Corridor Program of the Government of India, will help finance the 343 km Khurja to Kanpur section and the funding would be provided in three phases.

The corridor would result in an increased load carrying capacity of these freight-only lines and allow enhanced speeds of up to 100 kms/hr. The Eastern Corridor would help in the movement of coal from the northern to eastern part of the country.

Freight corridor will also help in reduction of carbon emissions by 2.25 times. Over a period of 30 years, it will enable saving of 450 million tones of carbon emissions.

The Rs 77,000 crore project is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects undertaken by the government. While the 1483 km Western Dedicated Freight Corridor runs from Jawaharlal Nehru Port to Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, the Eastern corridor is an 1839 km runs from Ludhiana to Dankuni in West Bengal.

These corridors will help to boost India's industrial productivity by transporting raw materials to industrial hubs and manufactured goods to ports in a faster and more efficient manner, and at reduced costs. They will also provide a better standard of service to passengers, especially where this service has suffered due to the mixing of faster passenger traffic with the slower moving freight trains.