Moving goods from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal

 

Let us assume that a new Dedicated Freight Corridor was created by Indian Railways, connecting the Kochi port with Madurai and then Thondi on the east coast of India. It should skirt thickly populated areas. The distance is approximately 378 km. It should be at least a double line with a few stops en route, including one near Madurai. The line may require some tunneling. Some parts of it might have to be elevated above the ground. While Kochi has significant infrastructure, Thondi would need an entirely new port built with a large container handling capability. Thoothukudi has some infrastructure but expanding that port will pose problems because ships there need to navigate the relatively shallow Gulf of Mannar. 

This project would serve many countries including ASEAN and African countries. It will speed up traffic between the west and the east and reduce costs and energy consumption. China would benefit from this project too because of faster transportation of goods to the Middle East, EU, and Africa.

The domestic significance of this project should not be underestimated as we will plan to connect Thondi with all major ports on the East Coast by ships carrying containerized freight. Cargo from the west going to cities on the east coast would then be significantly speeded up. Cargo from the east going to cities on the west coast would be similarly speeded up. Some loads on the existing inter-city freight corridors would be reduced. By creating new routes for freight movement, the corridor would ruggedize India’s transport infrastructure.

Given state-of-the-art technology, the corridor could be all-electric and primarily carry containerized freight. It will use high-speed trains and will be highly automated. If the corridor has a capacity of about 100 million tons/year in each direction, it will find no shortage of demand. Multilateral and bilateral funding would be easily available for investing. Job creation would be a major contribution. Another significant contribution would be in reducing fossil fuel usage, thereby contributing to climate change control efforts.

Hopefully, the corridor’s freight-carrying capacity can be increased in the future, through incremental investment. 200 million tons each way would be an ideal goal.

Srinivasan Ramani