DFCC pins hopes on new Maharashtra govt approval for stuck freight corridor

Previous government had banned earthwork for project, following an order by Pune Bench of NGT

With the change of government in Maharashtra, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCC) is hoping for a change in the fortunes of the western dedicated freight corridor (DFC). The company has approached the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government to overturn an earlier state government order banning earthwork for the project, Business Standard has learnt.

“Highest-level bureaucratic representations have been made to the new state government and a request from the railways minister is also expected,” senior officials in the public sector undertaking and the Ministry of Railways said.

The issue dates back to February, when the Pune Bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) passed an order against stone quarrying and stone-crushing work for infrastructure projects.

“Pursuant to the NGT Pune order, the government of Maharashtra has issued directions to the divisional commissioner and collectorates that mine and minerals earthwork permits should not be issued without environmental clearance. This has stalled the progress of DFC works,” Railway Board Chairman VK Tripathi had said in a letter to the state’s chief secretary in June, arguing that the scope of the NGT order did not apply to earthworks being undertaken by DFCC.

Business Standard had previously reported that months of deliberations over the matter between the ministry and the state had been ineffective.

Sources indicated that a part of the reason was political, as the DFC was not carrying out stone-crushing or stone-quarry works. With the change in government since, faster regulatory clearances are expected. However, two months into the new government, the older order remains in place.

Meanwhile, the state’s interventions in granting fast clearances to the Ahmedabad-Mumbai high-speed rail project, better known as bullet train, have been in the limelight since the change of government in June. Chief Minister Shinde recently asked authorities to ensure all land clearances – primarily in the Bandra-Kurla Complex and Vikhroli – to be accorded within a month.

Exempt earlier

Before the NGT order, the DFCC was exempted from environmental clearances. The Supreme Court in 2016 had allowed linear projects like freight corridor works to be carried out without clearances since the marquee project would face delays otherwise. In 2020, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) had issued a notification exempting ordinary earth borrowing from environmental impact assessment.

“The DFCC is hoping to get the issue resolved through Centre-state coordination, without the need of legal measures to get the approval, since that could spell even further delays,” another senior official said. Meanwhile, the National Highways Authority of India had challenged the state directive in May, but was not successful.

Flagship project

The western DFC is one of the two flagship railway freight corridor projects being undertaken by the Centre, and is touted to be a game-changer for both logistics and passenger services, offering more than twice the average speed for the transportation of goods on regular Indian Railways tracks. The 100-kilometre Maharashtra section of the western corridor is a crucial stretch, as it connects major ports such as Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and the state’s industrial clusters to the DFC network.

It was expected to be completed by March 2024 (revised from June 2022). However, further procedural delays could put even that deadline in jeopardy, sources said. At present, close to half of the eastern and western DFCs are operational, with more stretches being added periodically.

Policy Maze

September 2016: Supreme Court exempts Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) from environmental clearance, quashing a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order.

March 2020: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) exempts borrowing of ordinary earth from environmental impact assessment.

February 2022: NGT Pune mandates requirement of environmental clearance for borrowing of earth, stone-crushing, and stone quarry.

March 2022: Government of Maharashtra bans these activities without clearance, in consonance with NGT directive.

May 2022: National Highways Authority of India challenges the state government order;  NGT declines plea and asks MoEFCC to revisit 2020 exemption order.

10 June 2022: Railway Board chairman writes to Maharashtra government seeking approval to continue earthworks.

30 June 2022: Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena)-Devendra Fadnavis (Bharatiya Janata Party) government assumes power.