Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the New Bhaupur-New Khurja section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor in Uttar Pradesh via video conferencing. The 351-km section, which has been built at a cost of Rs 5,750 crore, will open new avenues for local industries in Uttar Pradesh.The Prime Minister also inaugurated the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor’s (EDFC) operation control centre at Prayagraj.According to officials, the section will open new vistas of opportunity for local industries such as aluminium industry in Pukhrayan region of Kanpur Dehat, dairy sector of Auraiya, textile production and block printing of Etawah, glassware industry of Firozabad, pottery products of Khurja, asafoetida or ‘hing’ production of Hathras, and locks and hardware of Aligarh district.The section will also decongest the existing Kanpur-Delhi mainline and will enable the Indian Railways to run faster trains.Noting that a state-of-the-art Operation Control Centre at Prayagraj will act as the command centre for the entire route length of the EDFC, they said this is one of the largest structures of its type globally with modern interiors, ergonomic design and best-in-class acoustics.The building is environment-friendly with a green building rating of GRIHA4 and is built as per norms of the ”Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan”.The EDFC (1,856 kms) starts from Sahnewal near Ludhiana in Punjab and will pass through the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand to terminate at Dankuni in West Bengal. It is being constructed by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), that has been set up as a special purpose vehicle to build and operate dedicated freight corridors.The DFCCIL is also constructing the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (1,504 route km) that connects Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai and will traverse through the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
