CIL has floated a tender worth Rs 4,970 crore for construction of 135 KM east west rail corridor in Chhattisgarh to evacuate 65 MT coal from its opencast mines at SECL. The tender has been floated by a special purpose vehicle Chhattisgarh East West Railway Ltd (CEWRL). CIL has formed two SPVs for construction of rail lines to evacuate increased quantity from Chhattisgarh.
East West Railway (CEWRL) will be constructing the 135 KM railway line, the other 136 KM east rail corridor will be developed by Chhattisgarh East Rail Ltd (CERL) at a cost of Rs 3,055 crore.
The JV partners in CEWRL include SECL representing CIL and Ministry of Coal with 64% stake and IRCON representing Indian Railways with 26% stake. Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation is the third partner coming in with the rest 10% stake.
IRCON has floated the tenders for the work after a SBI led consortium of six banks released Lenders Confirmation Notice for Rs 400 crore as first disbursement. The east west corridor would include a 16 KM single rail line of from Urga to Kusmunda and 35 KM feeder lines in the region. The 135 KM Gevra road to Pendra road is a double line.
“After commissioning, the east-west line will have the capacity to move around 65 million tonnes (MTs) of coal per annum from Mand-Raigarh and Korba coalfields of SECL benefitting power plants in western and northern India. This rail project is anticipated to be completed by 2023” said a senior executive of CIL.
