TWO Japanese-Indian consortia - Sojitz-L&T and Mitsui, Ircon and Leighton - have prequalified for civil works on a 640km section of the 1499km western dedicated freight corridor which will eventually connect Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal in Mumbai with Tughlakabad/ Dadri freight terminal in Delhi.
TWO Japanese-Indian consortia - Sojitz-L&T and Mitsui, Ircon and Leighton - have prequalified for civil works on a 640km section of the 1499km western dedicated freight corridor which will eventually connect Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal in Mumbai with Tughlakabad/ Dadri freight terminal in Delhi.
The line is expected to open in March 2017.
The project is being funded through an ODA loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency, and funding for the 930km phase 1 from Rewari to Vadodara has been agreed. However, land acquisition is lagging behind as only 3780 hectares of the 5860 hectares needed have been purchased.
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India, which is responsible for developing both the western and eastern (Delhi - Kolkata) freight corridors, has found it difficult to find lead partners for consortia as they have to be Japanese companies.
