In its quest to commission the entire dedicated freight corridor project as quickly as possible, the Union Railway Ministry has decided to award the contracts worth Rs. 81,500cr in a one year time. The ministry has already awarded corridor contracts to the tune of Rs. 15,000cr in the past six months, said official sources elaborating that the actual cost of project to be awarded in the remaining period will be less as the total cost includes land cost and interest during construction cost and project escalation as well.

In this connection the World Bank in a recent move has already cleared funds commissioning the 1,840 kms stretching across the northern heartland of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor. The freight corridor starting from Ludhiana in Punjab to the west of India and then to Kolkata in the east will help speed up the carrying of goods and services and is part of a series of new freight lines India needs to ease congestion on its network. India's railways, built mostly by the British during the pre- independence era, are among the most extensive in the world but have struggled to expand to keep up with demand. This has hit freight carriers hard as they are forced to carry goods load by road, it added.