December 04, 2008

TATA eying dedicated freight corridor project - Report

It is reported that TATA Group is eyeing the proposed INR 50,000 crore dedicated freight corridor project by the Indian Railways and is in talks with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation for a possible alliance, in which the latter would help TATA to source rail wagons, engines and other related infrastructure for the proposed project.

As per report, TATA Realty & Infrastructure Limited, a 100% subsidiary of TATA Sons, will be executing the project for the group. It focuses on long and short term infrastructure projects and has previously teamed up with Changi Airport International for developing new and non metro airports in India.

The report cited a senior TATA executive as saying that “We are keen to participate in this project. Talks with Mitsubishi are in the preliminary stage. We hope that they can help in getting rolling stocks. We are looking at offering complete solutions for rail infrastructure.”

Dedicated freight corridors are exclusive railway lines for cargo laden trains. At present, freight trains and passenger trains use the same tracks, resulting in delays and added costs. Indian railways has proposed 2 dedicated freight corridors, the eastern corridor on the New Delhi to Kolkata route of 1,279 kilometer and the western corridor of 1,483 kilometer between Mumbai and New Delhi.

Bombardier Transportation, Siemens AG, Itochu Corp, GE Transportation and France’s Alstom are also holding preliminary talks with possible Indian partners and government for this project.