RITES feasibility study on 4 freight corridors by 2013
23 Nov 2012 6:54 AM IST
Railway Board Member (Mechanical) Keshav Chandra said on Thursday that the Indian Railways network will emerge as the best in the world because of the focus being laid on enhancing the urban transport system.
Inaugurating a conference on rail and urban transportation in India organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the capital, Mr Chandra pointed out that inadequate feeder services to railways are areas of concerns. This has led to crowding up in the road transport sector, particularly an increase in the number of cars on the road.
Addressing the conclave, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Managing Director R K Gupta said that RITES would be completing the feasibility study by December 2013 for building four dedicated freight corridors, which is part of the dedicated freight corridor project. Gupta said that Rs 95,000 crore has been set apart for this phase of the project, of which Rs 60,000 crore is for investment in the creation of network.
‘There is a huge opportunity for public-private partnerships (PPPs) in various projects of the proposed project,’ he added. Outlining details of the various stages of completion for the East and West Corridors, Gupta observed that the average speed of the movement of freight would be increased three-fold to 70 km per hour from the present 25 km per hour. Phase 1 of he project will be completed by 2016 but there will be phased completion of certain segments of the project between 2013, 14 and 15. Gupta observed that over 75 per cent of the land required for the corridor, which has a total length of 10,000 km, has been acquired. The corridors are running through 19 states and acquisition of land was a major hurdle, he pointed out. The land acquisition process would be completed by 2015, he informed.
Rolling stocks for the projects will be sourced domestically, which can give a boost to the private participation, noted Gupta. Referring to the funding pattern of the two corridors, Gupta said that the eastern corridor is being funded by the World Bank and $2.7 billion has already been committed.
The western corridor, being funded byJapanese development agenc yJAICO, would have many value added services to make the movement fast and swifter.Advisor (Infrastructure) to the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Gajendra Haldea regretted that the liberalisation process launched in 1991 had by and large bypassed India’s infrastructure sectors, dragging down the growth tempo of the economy. He was particularly critical of the slow pace of liberalisation in the urban transportation.
‘The result is that the sector is lagging behind in growth compared to segments like telecom, manufacturing, services etc. The continued large presence of the government and public sector undertakings (PSUs) is diverting scarce resources of the government for these works, which provide ample opportunities for the private sector to invest profitably and in a sustained manner,’ he added. Haldea added, ‘I find that there is resistance even from the private sector to bring in competition in the infrastructure sector. It appears that they are mostly interested in continuing with the monopolistic system wherein they will be only a few players.’
Inaugurating a conference on rail and urban transportation in India organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the capital, Mr Chandra pointed out that inadequate feeder services to railways are areas of concerns. This has led to crowding up in the road transport sector, particularly an increase in the number of cars on the road.
Addressing the conclave, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Managing Director R K Gupta said that RITES would be completing the feasibility study by December 2013 for building four dedicated freight corridors, which is part of the dedicated freight corridor project. Gupta said that Rs 95,000 crore has been set apart for this phase of the project, of which Rs 60,000 crore is for investment in the creation of network.
‘There is a huge opportunity for public-private partnerships (PPPs) in various projects of the proposed project,’ he added. Outlining details of the various stages of completion for the East and West Corridors, Gupta observed that the average speed of the movement of freight would be increased three-fold to 70 km per hour from the present 25 km per hour. Phase 1 of he project will be completed by 2016 but there will be phased completion of certain segments of the project between 2013, 14 and 15. Gupta observed that over 75 per cent of the land required for the corridor, which has a total length of 10,000 km, has been acquired. The corridors are running through 19 states and acquisition of land was a major hurdle, he pointed out. The land acquisition process would be completed by 2015, he informed.
Rolling stocks for the projects will be sourced domestically, which can give a boost to the private participation, noted Gupta. Referring to the funding pattern of the two corridors, Gupta said that the eastern corridor is being funded by the World Bank and $2.7 billion has already been committed.
The western corridor, being funded byJapanese development agenc yJAICO, would have many value added services to make the movement fast and swifter.Advisor (Infrastructure) to the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Gajendra Haldea regretted that the liberalisation process launched in 1991 had by and large bypassed India’s infrastructure sectors, dragging down the growth tempo of the economy. He was particularly critical of the slow pace of liberalisation in the urban transportation.
‘The result is that the sector is lagging behind in growth compared to segments like telecom, manufacturing, services etc. The continued large presence of the government and public sector undertakings (PSUs) is diverting scarce resources of the government for these works, which provide ample opportunities for the private sector to invest profitably and in a sustained manner,’ he added. Haldea added, ‘I find that there is resistance even from the private sector to bring in competition in the infrastructure sector. It appears that they are mostly interested in continuing with the monopolistic system wherein they will be only a few players.’
Next Story
