Guidelines will soon be issued to lower costs for private players in the development of new GCTs, they said.
The national transporter is already on course to achieving its target of setting up 100 GCTs and the proposed changes are likely to help in this regard, the people said.
The railways is now looking to double the number of terminals.
Under the proposed changes, some capital expenditure which was earlier borne by the private player can now be incurred by the railways. Further, the railways will not insist on upgraded traffic management infrastructure if the need for it does not arise at terminals where much load is not expected.
“Sidings for GCT need not be of mainline standards but should be on the basis of the traffic they are likely to handle,” RK Jain, former managing director at the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation Ltd, told ET. “These measures will ensure excess expenditure is avoided and GCTs are made more attractive to investors. Cost saving for a long GCT of around 10-12 kilometres could be to the tune of 10-20% with significant gains due to lowered signalling expenditure.”
Traction substation, a crucial part of railway infrastructure that converts electricity from the power grid to run locomotives, will not be planned on the railway siding (private investment) account. No electronic interlocking and track circuiting will be insisted on either.
“Such associated costs will be paid for by the railways, if needed. Fresh changes are being considered to rationalise the capital cost of setting up a GCT,” said a senior official, who did not wish to be identified.
The GCT policy was launched in 2021 to encourage private sector participation in developing terminals and integrating modern technology for freight management. These terminals are used for handling bulk cargo by companies that have interlinkages with the Indian Railways.
The GCT is operated for non-passenger commercial uses such as freight and helping monetise vacant railways land.