Kutch Railway Company Limited

Active

Kutch Railway Company Limited (KRCL) entered into an 35 year agreement with Ministry of Railways, Government of India in January 2004, to implement the 313 km Gandhidham – Palanpur gauge conversion project in Gujarat, India. The project involved conversion of existing meter gauge railway track lines connecting Gandhidham to Palanpur to broad gauge and also building stretches of new broad gauge rail lines. KRCL was also responsible for all the financing, and operation and maintenance of the rail line. The new broad gauge railway line was expected to improve the railway connectivity of Kandla and Mundra Ports in Gujarat with northern India. KRCL was a joint venture promoted by Government of India’s Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (50 per cent), Kandla Port Trust (26 per cent), Gujarat Adani Port Ltd (20 per cent) and Government of Gujarat (4 per cent). The total cost of the project was estimated at US$ 113.4 million. The project reached financial closure in November 2005 with a US$ 68 million loan from Oriental bank. The remaining funds came as equity from the sponsors. Construction on the project began in April 2005 and the new broad gauge railway line was expected to be operational by December 2007. The traffic on the route was estimated at 9.68 million tones a year by 2010-2011 and 12.75 million tones by 2014-2015. The main commodities to be handled on this route would be coal, fertilizers, food grains and salt. Not sure if the greenfield project is BOO or BOT - Unable to find information