Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 unveiled plans for a new Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) stretching from Dankuni in West Bengal to Surat in Gujarat while presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament. The project is aimed at enhancing freight movement across key industrial and consumption centres and is expected to become a critical component of India’s infrastructure-led growth strategy.
The proposed corridor will pass through multiple states across eastern, central and western India, creating a high-capacity rail freight link between Gujarat’s manufacturing hubs and eastern India’s industrial and port-linked regions. Once operational, the corridor is expected to significantly reduce transit time for goods, lower logistics costs, and ease congestion on passenger railway lines currently handling mixed traffic.
India currently operates two major Dedicated Freight Corridors, the Eastern DFC running from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal, and the Western DFC connecting Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra. The newly announced Gujarat–Bengal corridor will effectively connect these two networks, creating a seamless freight spine and improving end-to-end cargo movement across large parts of the country.
The announcement is in line with the government’s National Logistics Policy, which aims to reduce India’s logistics costs from the current 14-16 per cent of GDP to single-digit levels. Improved freight infrastructure is also seen as essential for boosting the competitiveness of Indian manufacturing under initiatives such as Make in India and for attracting private investment into logistics and warehousing.
By diverting freight traffic away from passenger rail routes, the new corridor is also expected to improve punctuality and capacity on existing railway lines used by passenger trains.
While the announcement marks a significant policy signal, details regarding the project’s cost, execution timeline, funding structure and exact alignment are yet to be disclosed. The government is expected to provide further clarity during subsequent budget discussions and through the Ministry of Railways in the coming months.
Once completed, the Gujarat-Bengal Dedicated Freight Corridor is likely to emerge as one of the most strategically important rail infrastructure projects, reshaping freight movement and strengthening economic integration between India’s eastern and western regions.
