DFCC Raises Its First Bill Of Rs 289 Crore To Be Paid By Indian Railways

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) has sought a payment of Rs 289 crore from Indian Railways. This is a first such move since its inception, for the access charge and various other expenses on account of operation and maintenance, loan interest and staff payment.

The bill has been raised for the freight operation on the 351-km long line during the financial year of 2020-2021.

The bill was raised only for three months from December 2020 to March 2021 as the first section of 351 km line was commissioned in December. The flagship project was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 29 December 2020, said a senior DFCC official.

DFCC has been set up as a special purpose vehicle to carry goods for Indian Railways. However, for the financial year 2021-22, the DFCC is in the process of raising a bill of Rs 1,459 crore for the operation of the 991 km long line in both western and eastern corridors.

One of the largest rail infrastructure projects, the construction of DFC is being undertaken by the government at an estimated cost of Rs 81,459 crore.

While the JICA is funding the Western DFC (1,504 route km), the Eastern DFC (1,856 route km) is being funded by the World Bank.

DFC, the flagship project, is meant to decongest the existing saturated rail routes so that the network can be used for more passenger-carrying trains.

DFC is expected to move goods at a faster pace and also create more capacity on trunk routes of Indian Railways as goods trains shall be able to ply freely on western and eastern corridors without any restrictions imposed by movement of passenger trains, said the official.

Till now 1,353 km line has been made operational in both the corridors with the expenditure of about Rs 85,000 crore, including the land cost.

An operation control centre at Prayagraj for the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor is also operational now.

Barring about a stretch of 100 km in the western DFC, the entire stretch of eastern and western DFCs is expected to be operational by June next year.