The World Bank is to provide a $975 million loan for a freight only railway line to enable more efficient movement of raw materials and goods between Northern and Eastern India. The loan will finance approx 1,100 km of the 1,800 Km Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor [Ludhiana-Delhi-Mughal Sarai] in three phases.
| The loan will mature in 22 years, with a grace period of 7 years and will also help to develop the capacity of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation which will build and maintain the railway infrastructure. |
The eastern corridor (Delhi-Kolkata) will remove the constraints to growth in the industrial areas of Punjab and Haryana. This will allow the railway company to make more capacity available for passengers in this densely populated area.