JSW Jaigarh Port signs pact with Konkan Railway for building rail connectivity

Mumbai: JSW Jaigarh Port Ltd, an arm of JSW Infrastructure Ltd, on Sunday signed a concession agreement with state-run Konkan Railway Corp. Ltd to develop a 33.7-km stretch of the new railway corridor connecting port to the new Digni station on Konkan Rail network.

The ₹ 771-crore project will help the port company to haul bulk commodities from Jaigarh port to Konkan Railway and further onward movement to hinterland.

JSW Jaigarh Port had emerged as a successful bidder following a competitive bidding process to develop this project under the so called public private partnership model for development, operation and maintenance of rail system.

The joint venture is formalized as Jaigarh Digni Rail Ltd (JDRL), with JSW Jaigarh Port, Konkan Railway Corp. and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) are the shareholders.

MMB is Maharashtra’s nodal agency for developing minor ports and harbours.

The project is funded through a combination of equity and debt and the concession agreement between JDRL with ministry of railways through Konkan Rail will be valid for 30 years, JSW said in a statement.

“The alignment for this new rail line passes through difficult terrain of Sahyadri mountains which would necessitate construction of about 18 km long tunnels. The estimated time of completion is 30 months and the rail corridor is expected to handle around 12 mtpa (million tonne per annum) cargo,” the statement said.

JSW Jaigarh Port is a mechanized, all weather deep water port having a capacity of 15 million tonnes per annum with two berths and is expanding rapidly to achieve capacity of 65 mtpa by 2020.

“The Jaigarh Port will get major boost with the signing of concession agreement for Jaigarh Digni new rail line. We are sure this will bring a socio economic change in the region by creating more job avenues. We are committed towards the make in India story and will work closely with the government to propel the economic growth,” said Sajjan Jindal, chairman and managing director at JSW Group.