JSW Jaigarh Port Ltd. has signed a concession agreement with Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) for developing the 33.7-km railway corridor, connecting Jaigarh Port to the Digni station of Konkan Railway.
The port operator had won the competitive bidding to develop the project under a public-private partnership model. The special purpose vehicle executing the project has been named Jaigarh Digni Rail Ltd. The port operator holds a 63 per cent stake in the company, and the KRCL and the Maharashtra Maritime Board hold the rest.
The project will come up through the difficult terrain of the Sahyadris, requires an investment of Rs. 771 crore. The concession period is 30 years. The rail link, to be executed in 30 months, will have eight tunnels spanning a total 18 km, and eight bridges. The corridor is expected to handle around 12 million tonnes of cargo a year.
The main purpose is to transport bulk commodities from the port to the Konkan Railway network and further to the hinterland.
The JSW Group has set up the Jaigarh port, a two-berth, all-weather deepwater port having a capacity of 15 million tonnes a year, with a Rs. 1,000-crore investment.
Indian Railways plans to use this model to connect all the minor ports in the country to the rail network.