Asserting that the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) was originally meant for its cargo, state-run Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) on Thursday asked the central government to ensure private sector Mundra port run by the Adanis does not get precedence in connectivity through the project.
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- The India’s largest container port said, Mundra getting connected first on the corridor will impact its business “adversely” as cargo in the hinterland will move to the Adani-run port, and sought the government’s help to ensure it also gets connected to the DFC.
- It’s chairman Sanjay Sethi also made it clear that the project is running behind schedule and added that the Railway Board chairman had also visited the port in connection of the same.
- He said,”We’ve been pushing it because we are saying that if it goes to Mundra first, obviously I’m affected in an adverse way. That’s a fact. We’ve been making a noise everywhere, that please expedite it.”
- The nearly 1,500 km western DFC will be connecting JNPT with Dadri on the outskirts of the national capital and aims to build dedicated railway lines to ensure smoother movement of containers from the port to the hinterland, and vice versa.
- Currently, JNPT handles 31% of the overall container traffic of India.
