Team News Riveting
Raipur, March 15
South East Central Railway (SECR) and Chhattisgarh East Railway Limited (CERL), an arm of mining major South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), today inked a concession agreement for the East Rail Corridor Phase-II Project.
Under the plan, 62.5 kilometers of new rail between Korba (Urga) and Dharamjaigarh would be constructed as part of the rail corridor. The agreement delineates the responsibility of construction, maintenance and operation of the rail system by sharing freight revenue for a period of 30 years by CERL with Railways.
CERL is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) jointly promoted by South Eastern Coalfields Limited, Ircon International Limited and Govt of Chhattisgarh represented by Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation Limited. While SECL and the coal ministry have a 64 per cent share, Ircon has 26 per cent stake, Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development has chipped in with a 10 per cent stake.
The East Rail Corridor is expected to be completed by March 2025, entailing an investment of Rs 1686.22 crore to facilitate evacuation of coal from the Mand Raigarh Coalfields of SECL, captive blocks and commercial mines. The Project will provide alternate routes to coal traffic originating in the Mand Raigarh Coalfields and Basundhara Coalfields.
The construction of the rail corridor is a significant step to improve rail connectivity in the region, which is being executed as a Special Railway Project. The land acquisition for the project has been largely completed and forest clearance is in advanced stage.
The agreement was executed in the presence of Alok Kumar, GM, SECR, Bilaspur. Y K Chaudhary, Chief Traffic Planning Manager, SECR and J N Jha, Chief Executive Officer of CERL, signed the concession agreement.
Also present on the occasion were M K Prasad, D.T(O) SECL/Chairman, CERL and CEWRL and Ankush Gupta, ED IRCON and Director, CERL and senior officers of Railways and officials of CERL.
