India to get $975 mn WB loan for rail project

The World Bank (WB) has signed a $975 million loan agre­ement with the Indian government to build part of a massive freight railway line connecting north and eastern India. India is infusing huge investment into overhauling its ageing infrastructure network, which has long acted as a brake on growth in Asia's third-largest economy. India plans to pump in $1.5 trillion into infrastructure over 10 years to 2017. The proposed dedicated freight corridors will not only meet this growing freight demand, but also decongest the already saturated rail network and promote the shifting of freight transport from road to more efficient rail transport.