OREANDA-NEWS. May 3, 2012. The Ministry of Railways have taken up development of Eastern (Dankuni-Ludhiana, 1839 kms.) and Western (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal to Tughlakabad/Dadri, 1499 kms.) Dedicated Freight Corridors. Connectivity to ports and industrial clusters are also taken up in a need-based manner with participation of strategic stakeholders, wherever possible.

 A Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) for construction of three rail corridors in Chhattisgarh, namely (i) Bhupdevpur-Gharghoda-Dharamjaygarh up to Korba, (ii) Surajpur-Parsa-Katghora-Korba and (iii) Gevra Road to Pendra Road has been signed on February 27, 2012 between Ministry of Railways and Government of Chhattisgarh.

 Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has proposed to undertake a study for the comprehensive Regional Plan for the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor. In this context, Ministry of Railways has requested DIPP to examine the need of a dedicated rail corridor between Chennai and Bangalore.

 Three above-mentioned rail corridors comprise a total length of 452 kms. and entail an estimated cost of Rs. 4,362 crore. The time-frame for implementation of the projects has been set as five years in the MoU.