New Delhi: The New Bhaupur-New Khurja’ section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor in Uttar Pradesh was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday via video conferencing. Dedicating the new rail corridor to the nation, the prime minister said that better connectivity is the identity of India. During the event, he also inaugurated the EDFC’s operation control centre at Prayagraj.
Inaugurating the corridor, PM Modi said, “These freight corridors will play a major role in making India self-reliant. Be it traders, farmers or consumers, everyone will be benefitted from these.” The 351-km New Bhaupur-New Khurja section’ of the EDFC is situated in Uttar Pradesh and has been built at a cost of Rs 5,750 crore.
“In particular, this freight corridor is going to give new energy to East India. About 60% of it is based in Uttar Pradesh, so every small and big industry of UP will benefit from it, ” said PM Modi.
The prime minister further added that there are plans to start two dedicated freight corridors. “The first one will connect Punjab’s Ludhiana to Dankuni in West Bengal. The second one will connect JNPT in Maharashtra to Dadri in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.
The section will open new vistas of opportunity for local industries such as aluminium industry in Pukhrayan region of Kanpur Dehat, dairy sector of Auraiya, textile production and block printing of Etawah, glassware industry of Firozabad, pottery products of Khurja, asafoetida or ‘hing’ production of Hathras, and locks and hardware of Aligarh district. The section will also decongest the existing Kanpur-Delhi mainline and will enable the Indian Railways to run faster trains.
Noting that a state-of-the-art Operation Control Centre at Prayagraj will act as the command centre for the entire route length of the EDFC, the PMO earlier said this is one of the largest structures of its type globally with modern interiors, ergonomic design and best-in-class acoustics.
The building is environment-friendly with a green building rating of GRIHA4 and is built as per norms of the ‘Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan’, it said.
The EDFC (1,856 kms) starts from Sahnewal near Ludhiana in Punjab and will pass through the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand to terminate at Dankuni in West Bengal.
It is being constructed by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), that has been set up as a special purpose vehicle to build and operate dedicated freight corridors.
The DFCCIL is also constructing the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (1,504 route km) that connects Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai and will traverse through the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, it said.
(With PTI inputs)