Funding for the dedicated freight corridor falls sharply in Budget for 2025-26 indicating that the project will be completed soon

dedicated freight corridor

Budgetary funding for the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp of India (DFCCIL) saw a massive fall in the Budget for 2025-26, indicating that the much much-awaited western dedicated freight corridor that will connect Maharashtra with northern India will be completed by the end of 2025.

While the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not mention the western dedicated freight corridor while presenting the Budget for 2025-26 on February 1, allocation for the DFCCIL fell to Rs 500 crore in 2025-26 from Rs 8155.00 crore allocated last year.

DFCCIL will spend Rs 5,499 crore in 2024-25, the government's revised estimates show. The funds will mainly be used to complete the construction of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor.

The Vaitarna-JNPT section of the western corridor is the last leg of the project, which was stuck due to shortcomings of the contractor Tata Projects. The company was served a termination notice by DFCC in 2023, which was later revoked.

The railways ministry's SPV is running 325 trains a day (as of June 2024), 60 percent more than the past year. The Eastern DFC, between Punjab and Bihar, was completed last year and has been extensively used this financial year to ensure timely delivery of thermal coal to power houses.

According to DFCC, more than 10 percent of the national transporter's freight volumes are being handled by it.

The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC), from Ludhiana to Sonnagar is operational. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) corridor is also 93.2 percent complete with feeder routes serving various cement plants and the large ports of Mundra, Kandla, Pipavav, and Hazira in Gujarat.

The deadline for DFCs was extended by two years following the pandemic-induced challenges and land acquisition delays. The total cost of the DFCs, including supporting infrastructure like multi-modal parks and train sidings, is pegged at Rs 124,000 crore.

The railways will monetise the upcoming DFC assets for operations and maintenance after commissioning and the Indian Railways will have a National Rail Plan to create a "future-ready" system by 2030.

Under Mission 3000, the Indian Railways intends to double its cargo loading to 3,000 million tonnes (mt) by 2027. It is widely understood that DFCs will play a key role in this endeavour.

The DFC covers nine states, spans 77 districts and involves approximately 11,000 hectares of land acquisition. Although it was given the go-ahead by the Union Cabinet in 2006, the project faced several delays due to land acquisition problems and cost overruns.