Japanese govt commits Rs 130 cr for DMIC

After a yawning gap, the multi-crore Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) got a fresh impetus on Tuesday when the Japanese government committed Rs 130 crore as engineering services loan (ESL) for the dedicated freight corridor project’s crucial phase I. The news was welcomed by state industries and mines department.

Almost 38 per cent of the dedicated freight project lies in Gujarat. Halcrow Consultancy will submit project reports and feasibility studies for Gujarat by December this year, according to department sources. The total worth of the DMIC project is $90 billion.

ESL indicates that the multi-crore project is ready for contracting. The loan bears basic costs of preparing tender documents, socio-economic impact studies, setting up of standard parameters for designing the freight corridor. The process will be completed within a year. Besides, a Rs 50-crore budget was extended for overall project.

It was only in May this year that there was brief fallout between Union government after the Japanese government set strict conditions for funding the project. The conditions included a comprehensive sovereign guarantee by Union government for the project that will also extend to overdue charges, penal interest for delays, penalties for late repayment as well as payment of components, including taxes and duties components.

At least four projects from Gujarat have been projected as early bird projects, which include regional metro rail, Ahmedabad-Vataman-Pipli-Dholera six-lane highway, international airport and integrated mega industrial park in Dholera.

The dedicated freight corridor is 1,483-km long, of which 38 per cent lies in Gujarat while Rajasthan constitutes 39 per cent of the total length of the corridor. This dedicated freight corridor envisages a high-speed connectivity for high axle load wagons (25 tonne) of double stacked container trains supported by high power locomotives. This corridor will be equipped with infrastructure such as power facilities, rail connectivity to ports en route. A band of 150 km, the influence region, has been chosen on both sides of the freight corridor to be developed as the DMIC.

“Once Halcrow Consultancy submits its report, detailed engineering contracts will be drawn starting December this year. The dedicated freight corridor requires frequent reviews. Issues like constitution of special purpose vehicle also needs to be formed,” says a senior official in industries and mines department.

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