The Hindu Editorial: Developing the western corridor
The project to build a Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) got the much-needed push, with the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between the Japanese and Indian institutions.
The DMIC Development Corporation and the Japanese JETRO are to promote 24 eco-cities or smart communities along the corridor, while the Japan Bank for International Cooperation has offered a $75 million loan facility to help establish a Project Development Fund to kick-start the project.
The DMIC project comprises a host of sub-projects for infrastructure development — for instance industrial estates, power plants, and logistics parks — which are to come up on either side of the proposed 1,483 km Delhi-Mumbai railway freight corridor.
The foundation stone for the rail corridor was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh way back in October 2006. This Rs.22,000 crore project is expected to change the face of the western corridor, with the DMIC developing the entire hinterland. The Gujarat government has embarked on a vigorous drive to attract foreign investment for the project and it can be expected to gain momentum as a result of the recent visit of Japanese Prime Minister Yokio Hatoyama. In addition to harnessing Japanese investments and interests, the States along the western corridor will also be tapping foreign and domestic investments for the overall development of the region.
The western rail freight corridor will link the Jawaharlal Nehru port and other ports in Gujarat to the industrial belts in the western, central, and northern regions extending up to New Delhi. A separate dedicated corridor to the east has also been planned by the Indian Railways, and the work on it was launched in February. The dedicated corridor is meant to focus exclusively on carrying freight, and the project, conceived in 2004-05, envisages 2,700 km of new freight lines and about 5,000 km of feeder lines.
The western corridor will connect Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Jaipur, Rewari, Tughlakabad, and Dadri.
It is now for the Government of India, and all the agencies involved in the massive project — including the Railways, the State governments, and even the Planning Commission — to work in close coordination and ensure that it does not suffer undue delays and the consequent cost over-runs.
Japan wants to showcase the DMIC as a model not just for India, but the whole world.
To begin with, the Indian agencies need to expedite the basic work on the feasibility report, environmental clearances, land acquisition, and preparation of a blueprint for the whole project. The prospective investors will need a definite time frame and a detailed plan to finalise their investment plans.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Monday, 28 December 2009
Industry & Economy - Non-conventional Energy
Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan to play major role in solar power
Kolkata, Dec. 28
West Bengal, Gujarat and Rajasthan will be the major participants in the National Solar Mission (NSM) as these three States together will produce nearly 30 per cent of the targeted 20,000 MW solar power in the country by 2022, according to Mr SP Gon Chowdhury, Managing Director of the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation.
Addressing media persons on the sidelines of the 23rd Industrial India Trade Fair here on Monday, Mr Chowdhury said, “West Bengal has set the target of producing 110 MW solar power by 2013 involving investment of Rs 1,500 crore by different companies”.
A total of 15 MW solar power was currently generated in the State and the total investment in this in last three years was Rs 800 crore, he pointed out.
Mr Chowdhuty indicated that Gujarat and Rajasthan were expected to generate 130 MW and 100 MW solar power respectively in three years.
The Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Mr Farooq Abdullah, recently declared the target of producing 1,300 MW solar power in the first phase of National Solar Mission by 2013. “We would soon send a proposal to the Centre to block 110 MW solar power and to connect the same to the power grid,” Mr Chowdhury said.
The West Government, he pointed out, had targeted to set up one lakh solar home lighting units in the Sstate in two to three years under the Centre-sponsored Decentralised Distributed Generation Scheme.
The State was also expected to manufacture solar modules capable of producing 500 MW power by 2022, he said. The national target in this regard is 5000 MW.
A number of companies, including Webel, Reliance Industries Ltd, Videocon, Moser Baer and Astonfield have rolled out their investment plans in the renewable energy sector in West Bengal, Mr Chowdhury said.
The State was also expected to produce 5 MW solar power from “rooftop projects”, he added.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal IT Minister, Mr Debesh Das, said that there was need to manufacture solar panels from raw silica in the State.
“Though a lot of companies are interested in generating solar power, we also need to be self reliant in raw materials,” he said.
Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan to play major role in solar power
Kolkata, Dec. 28
West Bengal, Gujarat and Rajasthan will be the major participants in the National Solar Mission (NSM) as these three States together will produce nearly 30 per cent of the targeted 20,000 MW solar power in the country by 2022, according to Mr SP Gon Chowdhury, Managing Director of the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation.
Addressing media persons on the sidelines of the 23rd Industrial India Trade Fair here on Monday, Mr Chowdhury said, “West Bengal has set the target of producing 110 MW solar power by 2013 involving investment of Rs 1,500 crore by different companies”.
A total of 15 MW solar power was currently generated in the State and the total investment in this in last three years was Rs 800 crore, he pointed out.
Mr Chowdhuty indicated that Gujarat and Rajasthan were expected to generate 130 MW and 100 MW solar power respectively in three years.
The Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Mr Farooq Abdullah, recently declared the target of producing 1,300 MW solar power in the first phase of National Solar Mission by 2013. “We would soon send a proposal to the Centre to block 110 MW solar power and to connect the same to the power grid,” Mr Chowdhury said.
The West Government, he pointed out, had targeted to set up one lakh solar home lighting units in the Sstate in two to three years under the Centre-sponsored Decentralised Distributed Generation Scheme.
The State was also expected to manufacture solar modules capable of producing 500 MW power by 2022, he said. The national target in this regard is 5000 MW.
A number of companies, including Webel, Reliance Industries Ltd, Videocon, Moser Baer and Astonfield have rolled out their investment plans in the renewable energy sector in West Bengal, Mr Chowdhury said.
The State was also expected to produce 5 MW solar power from “rooftop projects”, he added.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal IT Minister, Mr Debesh Das, said that there was need to manufacture solar panels from raw silica in the State.
“Though a lot of companies are interested in generating solar power, we also need to be self reliant in raw materials,” he said.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Proposal to make Ajmer World Class Railway Station
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13:13 IST
RAJYA SABHA 17 De2009
Ajmer Railway Station has been identified for development into World Class Station through Public-Private Partnership(PPP) mode. Preliminary activities have been taken up. No target date for completion has been fixed.
It is planned to provide state-of-the-art station building with good architecture and having segregation of arrival/departure of passengers, modern amenities like food plazas, currency exchange counter, tourist info booth, retail outlets, internet café, ATM facilities, Hotels, car rentals, prepaid taxi booths wherever feasible, well illuminated circulating area, etc.
This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, Shri E. Ahamed in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13:13 IST
RAJYA SABHA 17 De2009
Ajmer Railway Station has been identified for development into World Class Station through Public-Private Partnership(PPP) mode. Preliminary activities have been taken up. No target date for completion has been fixed.
It is planned to provide state-of-the-art station building with good architecture and having segregation of arrival/departure of passengers, modern amenities like food plazas, currency exchange counter, tourist info booth, retail outlets, internet café, ATM facilities, Hotels, car rentals, prepaid taxi booths wherever feasible, well illuminated circulating area, etc.
This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, Shri E. Ahamed in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Desert National Park in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12:57 IST
Lok Sabha
State Government of Rajasthan has notified Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in Jaisalmer District as Desert National Park on 4th August 1980 vide Notification No. F3(1)(73) Rev/dated 4/8/1980. It comprises of 3162 sq. kms. It has been declared National Park due to its ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural or zoological significance for the purpose of protecting, propagating, developing wildlife and its environment.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent charge) Shri Jairam Ramesh in a written reply to a question by Sh. Harish Chaudhary in Lok Sabha today.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12:57 IST
Lok Sabha
State Government of Rajasthan has notified Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in Jaisalmer District as Desert National Park on 4th August 1980 vide Notification No. F3(1)(73) Rev/dated 4/8/1980. It comprises of 3162 sq. kms. It has been declared National Park due to its ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural or zoological significance for the purpose of protecting, propagating, developing wildlife and its environment.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent charge) Shri Jairam Ramesh in a written reply to a question by Sh. Harish Chaudhary in Lok Sabha today.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
haalkhabar news
haalkhabar news: "Cong MP appointed chairman of standing committee on IT
PD Rai became a member IT committee
New Delhi, September 18 (IST 5:35): Congress MP Rao Inderjit Singh has become the chairman of the Standing Committee on Information Technology, which was constituted today by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
The Committee looks after the issues of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The newly constituted committee has 17 members from Lok Sabha and nine members from Rajya Sabha.
The members from Lok Sabha include Abdul Rahman (DMK), Shivaji Adhalrao Patil (Shiv Sena), Rajendra Agrawal (BJP), Nikhil Kumar Choudhary (BJP), Milind Murli Deora (INC), Rajen Gohain (BJP), Mithlesh Kumar (Samajwadi Party), Inder Singh Namdhari (Independent), Prem Das Rai (Sikkim Democratic Front), Tathagata Satpathy (Biju Janta Dal).
Other Lok Sabha members part of this committee were Bhola Singh (BJP), Dhananjay Singh (BSP), Sushil Kumar Singh (Janata Dal United), C Sivasami (AIADMK), Dharmendra Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Darshana Vikram Jardosh (BJP), M Vijaya Shanthi (Telangana Rashtra Samithi)."
PD Rai became a member IT committee
New Delhi, September 18 (IST 5:35): Congress MP Rao Inderjit Singh has become the chairman of the Standing Committee on Information Technology, which was constituted today by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
The Committee looks after the issues of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The newly constituted committee has 17 members from Lok Sabha and nine members from Rajya Sabha.
The members from Lok Sabha include Abdul Rahman (DMK), Shivaji Adhalrao Patil (Shiv Sena), Rajendra Agrawal (BJP), Nikhil Kumar Choudhary (BJP), Milind Murli Deora (INC), Rajen Gohain (BJP), Mithlesh Kumar (Samajwadi Party), Inder Singh Namdhari (Independent), Prem Das Rai (Sikkim Democratic Front), Tathagata Satpathy (Biju Janta Dal).
Other Lok Sabha members part of this committee were Bhola Singh (BJP), Dhananjay Singh (BSP), Sushil Kumar Singh (Janata Dal United), C Sivasami (AIADMK), Dharmendra Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Darshana Vikram Jardosh (BJP), M Vijaya Shanthi (Telangana Rashtra Samithi)."
JAPANESE PROJECT FOR WESTERN CORRIDER APPROVED
The ambitious project to build a dedicated rail freight corridor running down a western corridor from New Delhi to Mumbai was put back on the tracks by the Union cabinet on Thursday, when it approved a Rs17,700 crore conditional loan from Japan to help build it.
The project is expected to decongest existing railway lines, catalyze industrial investments of around $50 billion (Rs2.4 trillion) and create new jobs along the rail route.
The western corridor is onehalf of a marquee infrastructure project first conceived in 2005 by the first United Progressive Alliance government.
It comprises two lines being constructed by the railways to transport goods and will connect India's largest port in Mumbai to Delhi through the western corridor (1,483km) and link Dankuni in Bihar with Ludhiana in Punjab through the eastern freight corridor (1,806km).
The plan to build these two freight lines was derailed after the government was unable to resolve funding issues and the terms of Japanese assistance.
The financial assistance
from Japan will start with funding a rail line, which will run on the western arm of the corridor between Rewari in Haryana and Vadodara in Gujarat.
"The Japanese overseas development assistance is going to be (a) soft loan with an interest of only 0.2% per annum with a long repayment period of over 30 years and a moratorium of 10 years," said information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni while addressing journalists after the cabinet meeting.
The loan comes with certain conditions--all prime contractors must be Japanese firms, while nearly one-third of the total contracts should go to Japanese companies.
Some government departments have in the past questioned the conditions, saying acquiring Japanese equipment for even a portion of the corridor could mean India would have to use similar equipment for the rest of the project.
"This (the dedicated freight corridor) was there for the last two-three years. But it had some conditions and I think there was some disagreement between the railways (and other departments). It could have a major impact because if the project gets off, it's not only that the freight gets faster, but also the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor will get a fillip because you can't have an industrial corridor without a freight corridor. Also, while there will be other forms of financing needed, the fact that anchor financing is available will make a difference," said Arvind Mahajan, an executive director with audit and consultancy firm KPMG's advisory services.
The western corridor will be financed through a debt to equity ratio of 2:1, with debt being raised from bilateral and multilateral sources such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
The railways too will also contibute to the project funding.
sangeeta.s@livemint.com
The ambitious project to build a dedicated rail freight corridor running down a western corridor from New Delhi to Mumbai was put back on the tracks by the Union cabinet on Thursday, when it approved a Rs17,700 crore conditional loan from Japan to help build it.
The project is expected to decongest existing railway lines, catalyze industrial investments of around $50 billion (Rs2.4 trillion) and create new jobs along the rail route.
The western corridor is onehalf of a marquee infrastructure project first conceived in 2005 by the first United Progressive Alliance government.
It comprises two lines being constructed by the railways to transport goods and will connect India's largest port in Mumbai to Delhi through the western corridor (1,483km) and link Dankuni in Bihar with Ludhiana in Punjab through the eastern freight corridor (1,806km).
The plan to build these two freight lines was derailed after the government was unable to resolve funding issues and the terms of Japanese assistance.
The financial assistance
from Japan will start with funding a rail line, which will run on the western arm of the corridor between Rewari in Haryana and Vadodara in Gujarat.
"The Japanese overseas development assistance is going to be (a) soft loan with an interest of only 0.2% per annum with a long repayment period of over 30 years and a moratorium of 10 years," said information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni while addressing journalists after the cabinet meeting.
The loan comes with certain conditions--all prime contractors must be Japanese firms, while nearly one-third of the total contracts should go to Japanese companies.
Some government departments have in the past questioned the conditions, saying acquiring Japanese equipment for even a portion of the corridor could mean India would have to use similar equipment for the rest of the project.
"This (the dedicated freight corridor) was there for the last two-three years. But it had some conditions and I think there was some disagreement between the railways (and other departments). It could have a major impact because if the project gets off, it's not only that the freight gets faster, but also the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor will get a fillip because you can't have an industrial corridor without a freight corridor. Also, while there will be other forms of financing needed, the fact that anchor financing is available will make a difference," said Arvind Mahajan, an executive director with audit and consultancy firm KPMG's advisory services.
The western corridor will be financed through a debt to equity ratio of 2:1, with debt being raised from bilateral and multilateral sources such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
The railways too will also contibute to the project funding.
sangeeta.s@livemint.com
JAPANESE PROJECT FOR WESTERN CORRIDER APPROVED
The ambitious project to build a dedicated rail freight corridor running down a western corridor from New Delhi to Mumbai was put back on the tracks by the Union cabinet on Thursday, when it approved a Rs17,700 crore conditional loan from Japan to help build it.
The project is expected to decongest existing railway lines, catalyze industrial investments of around $50 billion (Rs2.4 trillion) and create new jobs along the rail route.
The western corridor is onehalf of a marquee infrastructure project first conceived in 2005 by the first United Progressive Alliance government.
It comprises two lines being constructed by the railways to transport goods and will connect India's largest port in Mumbai to Delhi through the western corridor (1,483km) and link Dankuni in Bihar with Ludhiana in Punjab through the eastern freight corridor (1,806km).
The plan to build these two freight lines was derailed after the government was unable to resolve funding issues and the terms of Japanese assistance.
The financial assistance
from Japan will start with funding a rail line, which will run on the western arm of the corridor between Rewari in Haryana and Vadodara in Gujarat.
"The Japanese overseas development assistance is going to be (a) soft loan with an interest of only 0.2% per annum with a long repayment period of over 30 years and a moratorium of 10 years," said information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni while addressing journalists after the cabinet meeting.
The loan comes with certain conditions--all prime contractors must be Japanese firms, while nearly one-third of the total contracts should go to Japanese companies.
Some government departments have in the past questioned the conditions, saying acquiring Japanese equipment for even a portion of the corridor could mean India would have to use similar equipment for the rest of the project.
"This (the dedicated freight corridor) was there for the last two-three years. But it had some conditions and I think there was some disagreement between the railways (and other departments). It could have a major impact because if the project gets off, it's not only that the freight gets faster, but also the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor will get a fillip because you can't have an industrial corridor without a freight corridor. Also, while there will be other forms of financing needed, the fact that anchor financing is available will make a difference," said Arvind Mahajan, an executive director with audit and consultancy firm KPMG's advisory services.
The western corridor will be financed through a debt to equity ratio of 2:1, with debt being raised from bilateral and multilateral sources such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
The railways too will also contibute to the project funding.
sangeeta.s@livemint.com
The ambitious project to build a dedicated rail freight corridor running down a western corridor from New Delhi to Mumbai was put back on the tracks by the Union cabinet on Thursday, when it approved a Rs17,700 crore conditional loan from Japan to help build it.
The project is expected to decongest existing railway lines, catalyze industrial investments of around $50 billion (Rs2.4 trillion) and create new jobs along the rail route.
The western corridor is onehalf of a marquee infrastructure project first conceived in 2005 by the first United Progressive Alliance government.
It comprises two lines being constructed by the railways to transport goods and will connect India's largest port in Mumbai to Delhi through the western corridor (1,483km) and link Dankuni in Bihar with Ludhiana in Punjab through the eastern freight corridor (1,806km).
The plan to build these two freight lines was derailed after the government was unable to resolve funding issues and the terms of Japanese assistance.
The financial assistance
from Japan will start with funding a rail line, which will run on the western arm of the corridor between Rewari in Haryana and Vadodara in Gujarat.
"The Japanese overseas development assistance is going to be (a) soft loan with an interest of only 0.2% per annum with a long repayment period of over 30 years and a moratorium of 10 years," said information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni while addressing journalists after the cabinet meeting.
The loan comes with certain conditions--all prime contractors must be Japanese firms, while nearly one-third of the total contracts should go to Japanese companies.
Some government departments have in the past questioned the conditions, saying acquiring Japanese equipment for even a portion of the corridor could mean India would have to use similar equipment for the rest of the project.
"This (the dedicated freight corridor) was there for the last two-three years. But it had some conditions and I think there was some disagreement between the railways (and other departments). It could have a major impact because if the project gets off, it's not only that the freight gets faster, but also the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor will get a fillip because you can't have an industrial corridor without a freight corridor. Also, while there will be other forms of financing needed, the fact that anchor financing is available will make a difference," said Arvind Mahajan, an executive director with audit and consultancy firm KPMG's advisory services.
The western corridor will be financed through a debt to equity ratio of 2:1, with debt being raised from bilateral and multilateral sources such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
The railways too will also contibute to the project funding.
sangeeta.s@livemint.com
17700 crores Railway Project to cover Delhi/Rajasthan/MP
Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) under the Special Terms of Economic Partnership (STEP) Scheme of the Government of Japan for the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17 sept 2009 14:3 IST
The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal for availing Japanese ODA assistance for implementation of the Western Corridor of the DFC project, the first phase of the assistance being estimated at Rs.17,700 crores for the Rewari-Vadodara Section and to start with an engineering services loan of approximately Rs.130 crores. The Japanese ODA loan is a soft loan with very low interest of 0.2% per annum (0.01% p.a. for consulting services), long repayment period of 30/40 years and a moratorium of 10 years. Approval has also been given for the terms and conditions of the tied loan which are briefly enumerated below :
Terms and Conditions of the STEP Loan:
(i) Prime Contractors must be Japanese firms. Joint Ventures (JV) with firms incorporated and re registered in recipient countries are also allowed to be a Prime Contractor, provided a Japanese firm is a lead partner. Sub-contractors may be from any country.
(ii) Not less than 30% of the total amount of contracts (excluding consulting services) financed by the STEP loan must be accounted for by goods and services from Japan. Here, procurement of goods from firms which are joint ventures in a recipient country and in certain developing countries can also be regarded as goods from Japan, subject to certain conditions.
(iii) In the case of consulting services, the prime Contractor i.e. the Consultants will be either Japanese or a joint venture with Indian partners where the total share of work of Japanese partners in the Joint venture is more than 50% of the contract amount.
Background:
In order to augment the rail transport capacity to meet the growing requirement of movement of freight traffic, Indian Railways have decided to develop Freight Corridors along its busy trunk routes. The Dedicated Freight Project on the Western and Eastern routes is one of the most ambitious project but Indian Railway has ever taken up and once completed would meet the transport requirement of the two busy trunk routes for the next 15 to 20 years.
The DFC project envisages a Western DFC (1483 kms) from Jawahar Lal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai to Tughlakabad and Dadri near Delhi to cater largely to the container transport requirements to and from the existing and emerging ports in Maharashtra and Gujarat and Eastern DFC from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni (1806 KMS) NEAR Kolkata to be extended in future to serve the new deep sea port in Kolkata area, and to largely serve coal and steel traffic.
Funding for the Western DFC has been sought from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the STEP Scheme of the Government of Japan and Government of Japan have conveyed their commitment to the assistance of entire Western corridor.
Implementation strategy and targets:
To implement the DFC project Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. (DFCCIL) has been incorporated in October, 2006 as a fully owned subsidiary of Ministry of Railways under Companies Act 1956. The project is to be financed through a capital structure of 2:1 debt to equity ratio with most of the debt coming from multilateral/bilateral agencies like ADB/World Bank/JICA. The Project is likely to be completed by 2017.
Major Impact:
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Project is an important infrastructure project recently identified as an ‘ICONIC’ project to be specially monitored. By connecting the raw material production areas with the consumption centers and linking both to major ports, DFC will positively impact overall growth rates and efficiency in the Indian economy. Further, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) coming up along the Western DFC will have a multiplier effect on industrial production, employment generation and development of the region as whole.
Expenditure involved:
The cost of the Western DFC Project is estimated to be Rs.26, 124 crores as per current prices.
Number of beneficiaries:
Power Houses, Mines, Ports, Industrial installations, manufacturing units, agricultureal sector, Services sector and the population in the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan would be benefited.
States/Districts covered:
States of Gujarat, Maharashtra & Rajasthan are covered by the Western DFC Project.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17 sept 2009 14:3 IST
The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal for availing Japanese ODA assistance for implementation of the Western Corridor of the DFC project, the first phase of the assistance being estimated at Rs.17,700 crores for the Rewari-Vadodara Section and to start with an engineering services loan of approximately Rs.130 crores. The Japanese ODA loan is a soft loan with very low interest of 0.2% per annum (0.01% p.a. for consulting services), long repayment period of 30/40 years and a moratorium of 10 years. Approval has also been given for the terms and conditions of the tied loan which are briefly enumerated below :
Terms and Conditions of the STEP Loan:
(i) Prime Contractors must be Japanese firms. Joint Ventures (JV) with firms incorporated and re registered in recipient countries are also allowed to be a Prime Contractor, provided a Japanese firm is a lead partner. Sub-contractors may be from any country.
(ii) Not less than 30% of the total amount of contracts (excluding consulting services) financed by the STEP loan must be accounted for by goods and services from Japan. Here, procurement of goods from firms which are joint ventures in a recipient country and in certain developing countries can also be regarded as goods from Japan, subject to certain conditions.
(iii) In the case of consulting services, the prime Contractor i.e. the Consultants will be either Japanese or a joint venture with Indian partners where the total share of work of Japanese partners in the Joint venture is more than 50% of the contract amount.
Background:
In order to augment the rail transport capacity to meet the growing requirement of movement of freight traffic, Indian Railways have decided to develop Freight Corridors along its busy trunk routes. The Dedicated Freight Project on the Western and Eastern routes is one of the most ambitious project but Indian Railway has ever taken up and once completed would meet the transport requirement of the two busy trunk routes for the next 15 to 20 years.
The DFC project envisages a Western DFC (1483 kms) from Jawahar Lal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai to Tughlakabad and Dadri near Delhi to cater largely to the container transport requirements to and from the existing and emerging ports in Maharashtra and Gujarat and Eastern DFC from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni (1806 KMS) NEAR Kolkata to be extended in future to serve the new deep sea port in Kolkata area, and to largely serve coal and steel traffic.
Funding for the Western DFC has been sought from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the STEP Scheme of the Government of Japan and Government of Japan have conveyed their commitment to the assistance of entire Western corridor.
Implementation strategy and targets:
To implement the DFC project Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. (DFCCIL) has been incorporated in October, 2006 as a fully owned subsidiary of Ministry of Railways under Companies Act 1956. The project is to be financed through a capital structure of 2:1 debt to equity ratio with most of the debt coming from multilateral/bilateral agencies like ADB/World Bank/JICA. The Project is likely to be completed by 2017.
Major Impact:
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Project is an important infrastructure project recently identified as an ‘ICONIC’ project to be specially monitored. By connecting the raw material production areas with the consumption centers and linking both to major ports, DFC will positively impact overall growth rates and efficiency in the Indian economy. Further, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) coming up along the Western DFC will have a multiplier effect on industrial production, employment generation and development of the region as whole.
Expenditure involved:
The cost of the Western DFC Project is estimated to be Rs.26, 124 crores as per current prices.
Number of beneficiaries:
Power Houses, Mines, Ports, Industrial installations, manufacturing units, agricultureal sector, Services sector and the population in the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan would be benefited.
States/Districts covered:
States of Gujarat, Maharashtra & Rajasthan are covered by the Western DFC Project.
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