Lok Sabha Question No. 4201 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-26
Subject: Dedicated Freight Corridors in NER
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Gaurav Gogoi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4201 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.03.2025

## DEDICATED FREIGHT CORRIDORS IN NER

4201. SHRI GAURAV GOGOI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  current  status  of  any  proposed  or  planned  Dedicated  Freight Corridors(DFCs)  in  the  North-Eastern  Region  (NER)  along  with  their expected completion timelines;
- (b)  whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  feasibility  studies  for constructing DFCs in NER and if so, the key findings thereof;
- (c) the financial allocation for freight corridor development in NER under the  railway  infrastructure  budget  for  FY  2025  and  the  future  funding plans;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  Environmental  Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed DFCs in NER; and
- (e) if so, the key findings regarding deforestation, biodiversity impact and the mitigation measures planned by the Government?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  to  (e):  Ministry  of  Railways  has  taken  up  construction  of  two Dedicated   Freight   Corridors  (DFC)   viz.  Eastern   Dedicated    Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1337 Km) and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) to Dadri (1506 Km). Out of total 2843 Km, 2741 Route Kilometers (96.4%)  has  been  commissioned  and  operational.  The  work  in  balance section has been taken up.

Ministry of Railways has undertaken the work of preparation of Detailed Project  Reports  (DPR)  for  following  three  (03)  new  Dedicated  Freight Corridors (DFCs).

- (i)  East-Coast Corridor: Kharagpur to Vijayawada
- (ii)  East-West corridor:
- (a) Palghar-Bhusawal-Nagpur-Kharagpur-Dankuni
- (b) Rajkharsawan - Kalipahari - Andal
- (iii)  North-South Sub-corridor: Vijayawada-Nagpur-Itarsi

DPRs of above three corridors are under examination.

None  of  the  above  three  DFCs  have  been  sanctioned  yet.  The  DFC Projects are highly capital intensive and the final decision regarding the sanction  of  any  DFC  Project  depends  upon  many  factors  such  as technical  feasibility,  financial  &  economic  viability,  traffic  demand  and availability of funds & financial options etc.

Further to improve connectivity in North Eastern Region, now 18 Railway projects  (13  New  Line  and  05  Doubling),  of  total  length  of  1,368  km costing ₹74,972 crore falling fully/partly in the North East Region, are at various  stages  of  planning  and  implementation,  out  of  which  313  km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹40,549 crore has been incurred upto March 2024. These include:-

| Plan Head   |   No. of projects |   Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissioned (in Km) | Exp. upto March 2024 (₹ in Cr.)   |
|-------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| New Lines   |                13 |                    896 |                            81 | 34,616                            |
| Doubling    |                 5 |                    472 |                           232 | 5,933                             |
| Total       |                18 |                   1368 |                           313 | 40,549                            |

Commissioning of infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the North East Region, is given below:-

| Period   | New Track   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|-------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 333 Km      | 66.6 Km/year                          |
| 2014-24  | 1728 Km     | 172.8 Km/year (Nearly 3 times )       |

Average  Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  and  other  works, falling fully/ partly in North East Region, is as under:-

| Period   | Outlay                   |
|----------|--------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹2,122 Crore/year        |
| 2025-26  | ₹10,440 (Nearly 5 times) |

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