Gadkari Ministry Funds Rs 8,500 Crore Indore-Manmad Railway Line, Central India To Now Get Closer To Mumbai-Pune Region

The much needed rail track connecting Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Manmad in Maharashtra worth Rs 8,500 crore will be funded by the Ministry of Shipping, headed by Nitin Gadkari, reports Mint.

The 362 km-long railway line will be executed by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that will have the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) holding 55 per cent while the Indian Port Rail Corporation Limited (IPRCL) – which comes under the shipping ministry – along with the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will contribute 15 per cent each. The Railways will not contribute financially to the corridor but will offer its technical expertise.

Trains from Indore heading to Mumbai currently take the route via Ratlam, Vadodara, and Surat that is totally 815 km while the new route is expected to cut short the distance to 644 km.

The reduced distance is expected to help save up to Rs 15,000 crore according to Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal.

The new corridor is expected to bring down the logistical costs for companies located in the industrial hubs of Agra, Lucknow, Kanpur, and the Indore-Bhopal-Dhule region. It will also connect to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) that passes through Nashik, Sinnar and Igatpuri in Maharshtra.