Indian Railways News

Indian Railways News

IPRCL to build Indore-Manmad Rail line to ease Container Shipment to JNPT: says Nitin Gadkari

Indian Port Rail Corporation Ltd (IPRCL), which is executing projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore, will build Indore-Manmad rail line for shipments of containers to JNPT, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said today.

IPRCL is a first-of-its-kind Joint Venture Company (JVC), between the Major Ports under the Ministry of Shipping, and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).

“From Indore and Dewas 47,000 containers go to JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust). They go via Ahmedabad and Delhi. It takes eight days for containers to reach JNPT. We (IPRCL) are constructing a railway line between Indore and Manmad which can carry shipments in just 24 hours,” Shipping, Road Trnasport and Highways Minsiter Gadkari told reporters on the sidelines of India PPP Summit organised by FICCI.

He said the detailed project report for about 339 km-long project is ready which is aimed at cutting down Indore-Mumbai distance by 200 km and would offer a corridor for despatching export containers from Indore region directly to JNPT. The minister said that 50 per cent of the about Rs 4,000 crore project would be funded by the Railways while the remaining will be offered by JNPT.

“Earlier, Railway Minister has said that 50 per cent of the cost will be contributed by the states and the rest 50 per cent by the Railways. Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra had expressed their inability to do so. I said JNPT will provide 50 per cent and the rest 50 per cent will be provided by the Railways,” Gadkari said.

The discussions on the project are on and the land will be provided free of cost by Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra governments, which will be converted into equity. State governments have also agreed to exempt taxes, he said. Likewise, the minister said that a Rs 1,000 crore rail line is bieng built to carry coal from Talcher to Paradip where Coal India plans to augment its output from the present 60 MT to 300 MT. “Coal can easily be transported to Kandla and Mumbai from Paradip after the project,” he said.

A FICCI-EY study titled, ‘Revival of PPP momentum in the transport sector’, highlighted the need to resolve multiple issues dampening the private sector interest and slowing the rate of private investment in the sector. It calls for key interventions to remove the roadblocks to PPP and accelerate the implementation of PPP projects. These interventions would include policy actions, regulatory changes and push the reforms agenda, which will create conducive environment for bringing investments into the sector.

The study was released today by Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Government of India; Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog; Junaid Kamal Ahmad, India Country Director, South Asia, The World Bank, and other dignitaries at the inaugural session of the India PPP Summit, orgainsed by FICCI in association with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) India.

The main recommendations of the study include strengthening of lending institutions, greater participation of insurance and pension funds, establishment of Infrastructure PPP Project Review Committee (IPRC) and the Infrastructure PPP Adjudicatory Tribunal (IPAT), setting up of 3P India as proposed in the Union Budget for 2014-15, mechanism to keep a check on aggressive bidding , need for independent regulators, passing and enactment of pending bills, strong emphasis on performance-based contracts, better preparation of DPR and revisiting the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme.

 

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