14th August 2016
With the initiative of Hon'ble Railway Minister, Shri Suresh Prabhu, this proposal which was conceived jointly by Railway Ministry & Government of Maharashtra, is finally seeing light of the day with the identification of Shapoorji Pallonji Corporation Pvt. Ltd. (SPCPL) as PPP Partner of KRCL.
It is proposed to connect Chiplun to Karad by Rail which will enable Port Connectivity to the Hinterland of Maharashtra. This New Project will comprise of constructing 103 km long Railway line from Chiplun to Karad. The Govt of Maharashtra has also initiated development of sea ports on BOOST basis on Konkan coast viz. Rewas, Dighi, Jaigarh, Angre, Vijaydurg, Redi and the new Rail line will facilitate the speedy evacuation of the EXIM Cargo from these ports. This will also prove to be a big boost to the Industries in the Region, thereby generating employment potential.
This New Railway Line will be instrumental for the overall development of Western Maharashtra and Konkan Region by way of easy and economical movement of the raw material and finished products in addition to providing convenient transport facilities to the people of these two regions. Moreover, the traffic through the port and the connected Railway Line will facilitate rapid growth of these regions.
This line will generate direct employment opportunities for approximately 5000 persons per year during the construction period and many fold in an indirect manner. Regional development will boost the employment opportunity at the secondary level and the overall development of the Region will be far reaching. As per the Maritime Agenda 2020 of India, the Port cargo movement is expected to increase three folds (by 2020). Railway projects like this which are connecting the ports to the hinterland will facilitate the realization of Maritime Agenda 2020 targets. This Hinterland Connectivity will also push the “Sagarmala” project activities initiated by the Hon'ble Prime Minister.
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The Project will be in line with the Participative Policy promulgated by Ministry of Railway. The policy has got various models and this project is proposed to be taken up in Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model, which will have both Government and Private Partners. Therefore, M/s Shapoorji Pallonji have been selected as Private Partner for incorporating the SPV with Konkan Railway for construction of a New Railway Line between Chiplun & Karad as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project. This project is expected to be completed in 5 years. The estimated cost of construction is around Rs. 3195.60 Crs and Konkan Railway (Indian Railway) will be sharing 26% of the Equity in the proposed SPV while M/s Shapoorji Pallonji Co.Pvt.Ltd has committed 74% of the equity of the project through Public Private Partnership (PPP). The salient features of Chiplun – Karad Rail Connectivity Project are enclosed.
Accordingly, the MOU has been signed by Shri Sanjay Gupta, CMD / Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) & Shri S Mukundan, MD / Shapoorji Pallonji Company Pvt. Ltd. (SPCPL) today i.e. 14th August 2016 in the august presence of Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Suresh Prabhu, Hon'ble Minister for Railways, Shri Anant Geete, Hon'ble Minster for Heavy Industries and Public Sector Undertakings and other important Dignitaries.
There is no doubt that under the guidance and motivation of the Hon'ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi & Hon'ble Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhu as well as Hon'ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis, the State of Maharashtra and Konkan Region in particular and the Nation in general will certainly prosper with these developmental activities and many more in store.
