World Bank grants third loan towards freight corridor

World Bank provided a total of three loans for the construction of a 1,146-kilometer stretch of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor in India.    The World Bank has granted its third loan to the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India, Ltd. (DFCCIL) for the construction of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC), a cargo railway project in India. The third loan was approved in June for $650 million and will go towards the construction of the 401-kilometer stretch between Ludhiana, Punjab and Khurja, Uttar Pradesh, World Bank said in a statement.
   The first loan was approved in May 2011 for $975 million for the 343-kilometer section of the EDFC in Uttar Pradesh between Khurja and Kanpur.
   A second, $1.1 billion loan was approved in April 2014 for 402 kilometers between Kanpur and Mughal Sarai, also in the Uttar Pradesh region.
   The loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a subsidiary of World Bank, has a  seven year grace period, and a maturity of 22 years.
   For the remainder of the EDFC, the Ministry of Railways will fund the section from Mughal Sarai, Uttar Pradesh to Son Nagar, Bihar. The 5.34-kilometer section from Son Nagar, Bihar to Dankuni, West Bengal will be financed through public private partnership, the DFCCIL said in a statement.
   Once completed, the EDFC will be 1,840 kilometers long and will extend from Ludhiana, Punjab to Kolkata, West Bengal, incorporating the six states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
   The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) will be 1,483 kilometers long and will incorporate the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The WDFC is being funded by a loan from the Government of Japan and the remaining cost will be borne by the Ministry of Railways, the DFCCIL said in a statement.