Cabinet Clears Rs 81,459 Cr Revised Estimate For East-West Freight Corridor
24 June, New Delhi
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for the revised cost estimate of Rs 81,459 crore for the Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project, including land costs and financing plan.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Information and Technology minister Ravishanker Prasad said, the Eastern and Western DFC passes through the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
He said, the Eastern and Western DFC project will add substantial transportation capacity, help in reducing unit cost of transportation and would provide efficient transportation services to benefit power houses, mines, ports, trade and industry and the container sector.
The Eastern DFC is expected to carry 153 million tonne of traffic in 2021-22, which will increase to 251 million tonne in 2036-37. The Western DFC is expected to carry 161 million tonnes of traffic in 2021-22, which will increase to 284 million tonnes in 2036-37.
Earlier, the CCEA in Feb, 2008, gave approval for implementation of the Eastern and Western DFC projects and so far, expenditure of over Rs 13,000 crore has been made.
CCEA also gave its approval for conversion of interest of Rs 39.53 crore accrued on the loan of Rs 21.82 crore provided to Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), Kanpur. The increase in capital base support will strengthen the financial position of the corporation to fulfill the objectives for which it was established. It will ensure availability of increased working capital required for enhanced targeted business and also enable the corporation to seek loans from Financial Institution.
The Union Cabinet also cleared signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan. The purpose of MoC is to establish a framework for bilateral cooperation in the field of Industrial Property (IP), with emphasis on capacity building, human resource development and awareness generation.