PM to supervise progress on rail freight corridor
10 Feb 2012
In a much-needed move to speed up infrastructure development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken personal charge of developing the railway dedicated freight corridor to speed up the movement of goods across the country.
In a meeting on Thursday over the slow progress in implementing the much-needed project, the prime minister has directed central ministries and state governments to accord it high priority.
The two dedicated freight corridors proposed will cover a length of 3,300 km spanning the length and breadth of the country, including major ports and inland manufacturing hubs.
The western corridor from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust near Mumbai would span 1,499 km. It would connect Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The 1839-km eastern corridor from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal will connect Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal.
The prime minister's office (PMO) has virtually taken the job of building these special corridors away from the railways ministry, run by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.
