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Dedicated freight corridor gets 80% land needed

Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has reviewed the implementation of dedicated freight corridor projects being implemented by DFCCIL, the fully owned SPV of the Ministry of Railways specially constituted for the purpose. DFCCIL Managing Director R K Gupta made a detailed presentation at the meeting, which was also attended by Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal and its other members.

One of the notable features reflected at the review meeting was the acquisition of 7,968 hectare, which constitutes over 82 per cent of the land needed for the project. This marks the achievement of a major landmark — 80 per cent land acquisition — stipulated by the funding agencies World Bank and JICA.

The land, spread over 61 districts in nine states, has been acquired in less than three years.

DFCCIL officials also highlighted the current procurement status for physical execution of works, indicating that contract for railway track works over 1,000 km is expected to be awarded in the coming months.

Mittal apprised the Railway minister on the achievement of project authorities in obtaining environmental clearance for two wildlife sanctuaries and one bird sanctuary in 10 to 16 months, which has been possible due to cooperation of the Gujarat and Maharashtra governments.

The Union Ministry of Forest and Environment too has provided assistance by lending the services of an experienced officer to guide the DFC project authorities in processing various forest and environment clearances.

Mittal pointed out that DFCCIL has successfully complied with the stringent requirements of social impact assessment and its mitigation as stipulated by funding agencies like the World Bank and JICA.

The initial time-lines of commissioning of the entire project by December 2016 for both the Eastern and Western Corridor, which as stipulated at the time of project approval,were also reviewed. The commissioning of DFC will now be achieved in phases from December 2015, depending on the availability of funds and funding arrangement being tied up wherever it is yet to be concluded.
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