WB oan to reduce carbon footprint of Railways
The World Bank on Thursday signed a $975 million loan agreement with the Central Government to set up the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor-I (EDFC) aimed at boosting efficiency as well as reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.
“Unlike the existing rail network, which runs on a combination of diesel and electrical locomotives, the proposed DFC corridor will operate entirely through electric locomotives, thus reducing GHG emissions,” said the Bank.
According to the international funding organisation, the Carbon Footprint Analysis conducted by Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. (DFCCIL) for the project shows that the corridor is expected to cause 2.25 times less carbon emissions when compared to a scenario where the freight is transported through a non-DFC network of the Indian Railways.
The Eastern corridor is expected to generate about 10.48 million tons of GHG emissions up to 2041-42, as against 23.29 million tons of GHG emissions in the absence of EDFC, a 55 per cent reduction in GHG emissions.
EDFC will also bring about a 15 per cent reduction in carbon intensity as compared to using existing alternate routes of transport.
Environment-friendly
Studies show that DFC will enable the Indian Railways to reduce GHG emissions on these routes by over 64 per cent, said Ben L J Eijbergen, lead transport specialist and task team leader for the project.
The loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a maturity period of 22 years, including a 7-year grace period.
The agreements were signed by Venu Rajamony, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, on behalf of the Central Government and Anshuman Sharma, Project Director, on behalf of DFCCIL and Roberto Zagha, Country Director for India, on behalf of the World Bank.
Corridor project
The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor Project (EDFC) will ease congestion and reduce travel time for passenger trains on the Ludhiana-Delhi-Mughalsarai route.
World Bank financing for the EDFC will cover an entire route length of 1,130 km (out of a total corridor length of 1,839 km) and will be provided in three phases.
The project signed today will finance the first phase, which is the 343-km section connecting Khurja and Kanpur.
