Railway corridor to link Jaigarh Port to Konkan Railway

JSW Jaigarh Port signs concession agreement with Konkan Railway
A 33.7-km of new railway corridor with an estimated cost of Rs 771 crore will connect Jaigarh port to the new Digni station on Konkan Rail network.
In this regard, JSW Jaigarh Port Ltd (JSWJPL), an arm of JSW Infrastructure, announced the signing of a concession agreement with Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) for developing a 33.7-km of new railway corridor, connecting port to the new Digni station on Konkan Rail network.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu were present at the ceremony held in Mumbai. JSWJPL to develop this project under Public Private Partnership model for development, operation and maintenance of rail system.
The joint venture is formalised as Jaigarh Digni Rail Limited (JDRL), with JSWJPL, KRCL and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) are the shareholders. The project will be funded through combination of equity and debt and the concession agreement between JDRL with Ministry of Railways (MoR) through KRCL will be valid for a period of 30 years.
The alignment for this new rail line passes through difficult terrain of Sahyadri mountains which would necessitate construction of about 18-km long tunnels. The estimated time of completion is 30 months and the rail corridor is expected to handle around 12 mtpa cargo.
The project will play a critical role which has been conceptualised by KRCL as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) as per Participative Policy promulgated by Ministry of Railways in association with Konkan Railway, Maharashtra Maritime Board and JSWJPL to transport bulk commodities from Jaigarh port to Konkan Railway and further onward movement to hinterland.
JSW Jaigarh Port is a modern, mechanised, all weather deep water port having a capacity of 15 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) with two berths and is expanding rapidly to achieve capacity of 65 MTPA by 2020. After having successfully handled cape size vessel (1,80,000 DWT), it is aiming for direct berthing of next generation vessels, i.e. Vale Max- the dry bulk carrier, Q- Max (the LNG carrier), Triple-E (the largest container carrier) and Very Large Crude Carriers.
Commenting on the development, Sajjan Jindal, CMD, JSW Group, said “The project will usher a new era of development for the region and provide impetus to the economic activities with the new link. The Jaigarh Port will get major boost with the signing of concession agreement for Jaigarh Digni new rail line. We are sure this will bring a socio economic change in the region by creating more job avenues. We are committed towards the make in India story and will work closely with the government to propel the economic growth”.

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