The East Coast Railway (ECoR) on Monday flagged off the first freight train from its Paradip terminal built under the under the Centre’s Gati Shakti initiative.
The terminal near Paradip station is the the first Gati Shakti multimodal cargo terminal in the East Coast Railway Region and has been commissioned by the Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR).
The first freight train from the terminal was loaded by Indian Farmer Fertilizer Corporation (IFFCO).
A total of 3,774 tonnes of fertilisers were transported from Paradip to Nakaha Jangal in Uttar Pradesh.
GCT Policy 2021
In order to boost investment from industry in development of additional terminals for handling rail cargos, a new ‘Gati-Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal’ (GCT) policy was launched on 15 December 2021.
The key features of these terminals are a simplified application and approval process, removal of departmental charges and no land license fees on the railway land used for connectivity. All types of commodities including coal and coke can be transported under GCTs.
The GCTs are being developed by private players, and can be developed on non-Railway land or fully or partially on Railway land.
For GCTs to be developed on non-Railway land, the operators will identify the location and will construct the terminal after obtaining necessary approval.
For GCTs to be developed either fully or partially on Railway land, the land parcels will be identified by Railway and the operator for construction and operation of Terminal will be selected through open tendering process.
100 GCTs in Pipeline
Indian Railways’ first GCT Terminal under the new policy was commissioned in Asansol Division of Eastern Railway in March 2022.
Under it, a private siding of Maithan Power Limited at Thaparnagar was commissioned. This siding handles 120 inward coal rakes per month and 02 to 04 outward rakes of Fly Ash.
So far, 22 GCTs have been commissioned and around 96 more locations have been provisionally identified for development of GCTs.
It has been targeted to commission 100 Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals within next three financial years. Transportation by rail is good for the economy as it is both energy efficient and cost-effective.