The contract was awarded to RRDISC in August 2016. The company was commissioned to provide the design and installation of signalling and telecommunication equipment on a 417km segment of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), between Bhaupur and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (formerly Mughalsarai) in Uttar Pradesh.
However, Indian Railways has stated that in the four years since the contract was awarded, only around 20% of the total work was completed, despite the contract originally being planned for completion within 1000 days of work beginning.
Indian Railways has denied heightened tension between India and China following recent hostilities between military personnel on the Sino-Indian border had any influence on the decision to end the contract.
Indian Railways has also requested a Non-Objection Certificate (NOC) to go through with the termination from the World Bank, which is funding the Eastern DFC project. The request is currently under review by the bank, with a response expected by the end of June.
