In a move to accelerate investment in India’s logistics infrastructure, Shri Praveen Kumar, Managing Director of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), held a high-level meeting with Ms. Ariane Di Iorio, Director at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group. The meeting was also attended by senior officials from MIGA’s team.
The discussion focused on exploring strategic financing and risk mitigation avenues for DFCCIL’s ongoing and future infrastructure projects. Currently, EDFC is completely operational, while the last leg of WDFC is expected to be commissioned by December 2025.
The commencement of dedicated freight corridors will decongest the existing lines and improve frequency of passenger trains. In addition, the DFCs will lower the logistics costs in India, which is currently higher than standard.
DFCCIL: A National Priority Project
Established in 2006 under the Ministry of Railways, DFCCIL is tasked with the development, operation, and maintenance of Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) in India. The DFCs will improve freight movement by decongesting existing railway lines and enabling faster, energy-efficient, and more reliable freight transport.
DFC Corridors
- Western DFC (1,506 km) connects Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to JNPT in Maharashtra.
- Eastern DFC (1,337 km) stretches from Ludhiana in Punjab to Sonnagar in Bihar.
Total project cost is estimated at over ₹1 lakh crore (~USD 12 billion), co-financed by international institutions like the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank.
As of mid-2025, DFCCIL has commissioned over 2,000 km of freight corridors, improving average freight train speeds from 25 km/h to over 60 km/h, and drastically reducing transit times and logistics costs. Implementation of infrastructure connectivity across the country. With freight demand in India projected to grow at a CAGR of 8-9% in the next decade, efficient rail logistics will be vital in reducing India’s logistics cost to 8% of GDP from the current 13-14%. DFCCIL’s expanded corridors will play a pivotal role in achieving this objective.
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