The World Bank loan of $1.8 billion to Indian Railways for its dedicated eastern freight corridor (DFC) may not come till July-September next year.

The bank has given ‘in-principle’ approval for funding two thirds of the $2.7 billion project on Mughalsarai - Khurja section stretching over 730 kilometres. It is at pre-appraisal stage and the bank will shortly obtain the board approval.

“We were in India recently to sort out issues related to pre-appraisal. The final appraisal will be taken up by March-April. Once that is done, we will put a proposal before the board to sanction the money,” G George Tharakan, lead transport specialist at World Bank based out of Washington DC, told Financial Chronicle. Thar-akan was in New Delhi a few days ago.

A team from World Bank reviewed progress of the Mughalsarai — Khurja project. Though the pre-appraisal is likely to be finalised by December this year, there are a couple of grey areas that need to be sorted out before it goes for final appraisal. As per a cabinet decision, DFC will shortly provide non-discriminate access to its users. However, there is no clarity as to whether railways or the passengers wo­uld be considered as users of this corridor.

“We do not know who will be the qualified operators. Then, there are issues like social impact of land acquisition and rehabilitation of people, usage of new technology owing to safety considerations. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) has appointed a six-member committee to deal with these issues,” Tharakan said.

DFCCIL – a special purpose vehicle set up by the railways – has appointed a consortium of consultants including Parsons Brinkerhoff India, Halcrow, Wil­bursmith Associates for system design, finalisation of bid documents and supervision of construction of the Mughalsarai-Khurja pr­oject. The eastern DFC starts from Dankuni in West Bengal and terminates near Ludhiana in Punjab. It will criss-cross West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Ha­ryana and Punjab.