Mitsui, Tata Projects, IRCON Consortium commence work on WDFC project

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Mumbai: TATA Projects Limited, one of India’s fastest growing and most admired infrastructure companies, today announced that it is commencing work on the INR 4,328 Crore project to build the 320-kilometer stretch of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, a dedicated freight line connecting Delhi and Mumbai. The company, along with IRCON International Limited, is part of the Express Freight Consortium, which is led by Mitsui & Co., Ltd. of Japan. Segregating freight traffic from passenger traffic shall pave the way for high speed movement of freight, and is one of the most important Infrastructure projects taken up by Indian Railways.

The consortium plans to complete the work in scheduled time of 48 months using latest technology of Automated Track Laying Machines. The machine lays the sleepers; special rails imported from Japan, and clamps all together in an automated manner simultaneously. The rails used are special `Head Hardened (HH)’ 250 meter long rails – which are welded together using Flash Butt welding machines, creating a smooth track.  The axle load of the track would be 32.5 tons, at par with tracks in Japan, compared to the current Indian rail tracks of 25 ton axle load. The project, is for civil and track works and will be executed in 2 Contract Packages – Contract Package 12 between Vaitarana and Sachin (186 Km) and Contract Package 13 between Sachin and Vadodara (134 Km).

The Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) is an ambitious programme of the Ministry of Railways, Government of India, involving construction of two corridors: The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni, and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor from Dadri to Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai. It is being implemented by Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL). The DFC project will eventually link the four hubs of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata at the corners of India’s Golden Quadrilateral. The Japanese government has provided yen loans for the Western DFC project under the Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP). To execute the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, Tata Projects will leverage its project execution expertise to carry out civil engineering work and lay tracks jointly with IRCON, while Mitsui will provide its established technical expertise.

On this occasion Mr. Vinayak Deshpande, Managing Director – TATA Projects Limited, said, “We are delighted to be – a part of this ambitious Dedicated Freight Corridor Project for the second time, as we are already constructing a section of the Eastern Freight Corridor. The early commencement of work, within a short period of the award of contract, is testimony to our proven execution excellence and capabilities in this area. TATA Projects, along with the other consortium partners, aims to bring the best of the technological advancements for this project in line with global standards.

This project is an important milestone towards modernization of India’s rail freight transportation, and we at TATA Projects are committed to the development of India.”

Mr. Toru Suzuki, Chairman & Managing Director – Mitsui & Co. India Pvt. Limited. said, “The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor is the backbone linking Delhi and Mumbai, and also a significant symbolic cornerstone of the flourishing strong bond between India and Japan. We are honored to be part of the project with distinguished local partners, TATA Projects and IRCON International, and we are confident that our consortium will complete the work successfully and as scheduled. Mitsui is strongly committed to this market and delighted to take part in supporting the future development of India, and we hope that the good relationship between India and Japan will keep flourishing for the further development of India. ”

The project is meant to segregate freight traffic from passenger traffic and pave the way for high-speed movement of freight and is one of the most important infrastructure projects taken up by the Indian Railways. The consortium plans to complete the work in scheduled time of 48 months using Automated Track Laying Machines. The machine lays the sleepers, special rails imported from Japan and clamps all together in an automated manner simultaneously, Managing Director, Tata Projects, Vinayak Deshpande, said claiming that the Tata Projects with the other consortium partners, aims to bring the best of the technological advancements for this project in line with global standards and is an important milestone towards modernisation of India’s rail freight transportation. Commenting on the development, Chairman & Managing Director, Mitsui & Co. India, Toru Suzuki, said that the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor is the backbone linking Delhi and Mumbai and also connect Chennai and Kolkata at the corners of India’s Golden Quadrilateral. The mega project is also a significant symbolic cornerstone of the flourishing strong bond between India and Japan and the player is confident that the consortium will complete the work successfully within the stipulated period.

Mr. Mohan Tiwari Chairman & Managing Director – IRCON said, “As per the changing economic scenario in India and abroad, we have constantly evolved and adopted best engineering practices, to meet the construction needs of infrastructure development. With IRCON’s core competence in Railway infrastructure projects and impressive track record of excellence, we along with other members of our Consortium are committed to deliver this project to the satisfaction of DFCCIL and Indian Railways”.