TATA Projects Limited today announced it is commencing work on the Rs 4,328 crore project to build the 320-kilometer stretch of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, a dedicated freight line connecting Delhi and Mumbai.
The company, along with IRCON International Limited, is part of the Express Freight Consortium led by Mitsui & Co., Ltd. of Japan.
Segregating freight traffic from passenger traffic shall pave the way for high speed movement of freight, and is one of the most important infrastructure projects taken up by Indian Railways. The consortium plans to complete the work in scheduled time of 48 months using latest technology of Automated Track Laying Machines. The machine lays the sleepers, special rails imported from Japan, and clamps all together in an automated manner simultaneously.
The rails used are special `Head Hardened (HH)’ 250 meter long rails – which are welded together using Flash Butt welding machines, creating a smooth track. The axle load of the track would be 32.5 tons, at par with tracks in Japan, compared to the current Indian rail tracks of 25 ton axle load. The project, is for civil and track works and will be executed in 2 Contract Packages – Contract Package 12 between Vaitarana and Sachin (186 Km) and Contract Package 13 between Sachin and Vadodara (134 Km).
Vinayak Deshpande, Managing Director, TATA Projects Limited, in a statement said, “The early commencement of work, within a short period of the award of contract, is testimony to our proven execution excellence and capabilities in this area. TATA Projects, along with the other consortium partners, aims to bring the best of the technological advancements for this project in line with global standards. This project is an important milestone towards modernization of India’s rail freight transportation.”
Toru Suzuki, Chairman & Managing Director, Mitsui & Co. India, said, “The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor is the backbone linking Delhi and Mumbai, and also a significant symbolic cornerstone of the flourishing strong bond between India and Japan. We are confident that our consortium will complete the work successfully and as scheduled. “
Mohan Tiwari, Chairman & Managing Director, IRCON said, “With IRCON’s core competence in Railway infrastructure projects and impressive track record of excellence, we along with other members of our Consortium are committed to deliver this project to the satisfaction of DFCCIL and Indian Railways”.
The Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) is an ambitious programme of the Ministry of Railways, Government of India, involving construction of two corridors: The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni, and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor from Dadri to Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai. It is being implemented by Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL).
The DFC project will eventually link the four hubs of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata at the corners of India’s Golden Quadrilateral. The Japanese government has provided yen loans for the Western DFC project under the Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP). To execute the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, Tata Projects will leverage its project execution expertise to carry out civil engineering work and lay tracks jointly with IRCON, while Mitsui will provide its established technical expertise.
Tata Projects is among major infrastructure companies with an order book of Rs 18,000 crore and additionally it has secured L1 position in about Rs 5,000 crore worth of projects.