Tata Projects India-Aldesa joint venture bags Rs 3,300-cr Dedicated Freight Corridor contract

The first major contract worth Rs 3,300 crore for the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project has been awarded to Tata-Aldesa joint venture. The contract involves construction of a 343-km-long double track line between Kanpur and Khurja in the eastern corridor.

Tata-Aldesa comprises Tata Projects India and Spain-based infrastructure construction group Aldesa.

It won the bid from among 10 other bidders through an international competitive bidding process.

The DFC is an ambitious programme of the government which involves construction of two corridors: the eastern corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni (1,839 km) and the western corridor from Dadri to Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai, (1,499 km) for seamless movement of rail freight traffic.

"It is a World Bank-funded design build lump sum contract that requires execution of the work within a specific time frame," said a senior official of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) on Thursday.

Framed with the support of the Planning Commission, the Railway Ministry and the World Bank, the bid document was designed keeping in mind the Cabinet mandate for execution of the works through lump sum contracting.

While this contract is likely to be completed in four years and is the first World Bank-funded contract, the current year will also witness other large-sized contracts being awarded for the JICA-funded Western corridor.

Approximately, 8,000 hectares of land spread over nine states and 61 districts have been acquired in a span of less than three years for both the corridors. The remaining 18 per cent land acquisition is in progress.

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