Indian Railways’ PSU, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), has decided to terminate the contract of China’s Beijing National Railway Research & Design Institute of Signal & Communication for signalling work.
This move comes amid escalation of the border conflict with China triggered after Monday night’s face-off in Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). India is mulling economic measures, including limiting China’s access to its vast market.
The contract for signalling and telecommunication work at the Kanpur-Deen Dayal Upadhyay 417 KM long stretch on the Eastern Dedicated Freight corridor. The World Bank funded project was worth Rs 471 crore, the railways said. According to officials aware of the development the national carrier has also approached the World Bank for the same.
“DFCCIL has decided to terminate it due to very poor performance of the company,” a railway ministry spokesperson said.
Only 20% of the work had been completed “despite passage of four years”, DFCCIL said in its termination notice. In view of poor progress, it is decided by DFCCIL to terminate this contract, it said.
The company was reluctant to furnish technical documents, the railways PSU said ,citing the reasons for the termination of the contract. “Non availability of the engineers/authorised personnel was a serious issue,” it said.
Physical work on the project also could not progress as they have no tie up with the local agencies, DCCIL mentioned. “Material procurement, which is an independent activity, has not been done earnestly. There is no improvement in progress despite repeated meetings with them at every possible level.”
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) is looking to decongest up to 70 per cent freight load of the Indian Railways, which could be better utilised to run passenger trains efficiently.
DFCCIL has been tasked with developing Indian Railways’ quadrilateral linking the four metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Howrah, commonly known as the Golden Quadrilateral.
