New Delhi, Mar 31 () Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) today said it will provide an assistance of Rs 6,170 crore for the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project. "JICA today signed an agreement with the Government of India to provide 103,664 million Japanese Yen (approx Rs 6,170 crore) Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan for the DFC Project Phase 1 (III), Tranche 3," JICA said in a statement. The ODA loan's conditions are very concessional, i.e; 0.1 per cent of interest rate and 40 years of repayment period (including 10 years of grace period), it said. It said: "JICA, Ministry of Railways and DFCCIL confirmed that as per the latest disbursement projection of the project, the amount of funds available under the Phase 1 (II), Tranche 2 loan is likely to be exhausted in the coming fiscal-2016-17, thus further mobilisation of fund is essential for smooth operation of this significantly important national project." The main feature of the project is the construction of new double track electrified railway lines for the sole use of high speed freight cargo trains as the backbone of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) development plan. The agreement was signed by Takema Sakamoto, Chief Representative, JICA India and S Selvakumar, Joint Secretary, DEA, Ministry of Finance here. Sakamoto said, "JICA is committed towards development of infrastructure in India. This loan will support to cope with the huge and rapid increase of freight transport demand in India by constructing new dedicated freight railway system. It will help to promote comprehensive regional economic development along the freight corridor, DMIC, through improvement and modernisation of inter-modal logistic system." The executing agencies for the project are the Ministry of Railways and Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL). DFFCIL will be responsible exclusively for planning, development and management of the whole DFC railway line, with full administrative, budgetary and technical support by MOR. MOR will be responsible for the procurement of rolling stocks, construction of locomotive depot, train operation etc. The western DFC being developed by the project runs between Delhi and Mumbai and covers the areas where significant commercial and industrial development is seen, namely Maharashtra and Gujarat, which have several deep sea ports. The project also covers the Delhi Metropolitan area which is one of the largest consumption areas in North India. JICA said in this project phase 1, a new 950 km freight line (Rewari to Vadodara) connecting the major cities in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Haryana will be constructed, and high-quality freight locomotives with large-capacity and high-speed will be introduced. "This project will become the backbone of DMIC initiative, being developed as the country's one of the largest integrated industrial areas between Delhi and Mumbai, aimed at promoting direct investment by Indian and foreign companies including Japanese companies," it said. NAM ABI

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