India’s Eastern Freight Corridor receives $975m loan

The Eastern Freight Corridor (EDFC), running from Northern to Eastern India, has received loan of $975 million from the World Bank.

The loan is for a period of 22 years and has a 7-year grace period.

The Eastern Freight Corridor is part of the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) initiative, which has so far been implemented on the the Western Freight Corridor.

The corridor has been developed for freight purpose only and means faster and more efficient movement of raw materials in the region.

The loan will finance the first phase of the project, which is the 343 km line running between Khurja and Kanpur.

The project will help increase the capacity of the freight line by raising the axle-load limit from 22.9 to 25 tonnes and will enable speeds of up to 100 km/hr, the World Bank said.

The corridor will also ease congestion on passenger routes as freight traffic will no longer travel on them.

Venu Rajamony from the Ministry of Finance said:

“Indian Railways urgently need to add freight routes to meet the growing freight traffic in India, which is projected to increase more than 7% annually.

“Dedicated freight corridors will not only meet this growing freight demand, but also decongest the already saturated rail network and promote the shifting of freight transport from road to more efficient rail transport.”

The proposed DFC corridor will operate entirely through electric locomotives, reducing carbon emissions.

According to a Carbon Footprint Analysis conducted by DFC for the Eastern DFC Project, the corridor is expected to produce 2.25 times less carbon emissions.