New Delhi, April 6 (IANS): GMR Infrastructure said on Monday that a consortium led by the company has won the bid for construction of the 417 km eastern dedicated freight corridor railway project estimated to cost Rs.5,080 crore.

"A consortium led by GMR Infrastructure Ltd. has been issued Letter of Award for
construction of 417-km Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor railway project at a cost of
Rs.5,080 crore on EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) basis," the company said in a stock exchange filing.

GMR is not required to provide significant investment for the project since it is
on an EPC basis, the statement added.

The World Bank-funded project is divided into two packages - one from Mughalsarai to
Karchana (near Allahabad) for 180 km and from Karchana to Bhaupur (near Kanpur) for 237 km in Uttar Pradesh, the company said.

The consortium had emerged as the lowest bidder amongst five contenders for the project through an international competitive bidding process in November last year. It is to be completed in 45 months, GMR said.

The eastern and western rail freight corridor projects are expected to be game changers in the country by creating the much required rail transportation capacity, it added.

In a separate filing on Monday, GMR Infrastructure said that GMR Vemagiri Power Generation Ltd. has commenced power generation by synchronisation of the APTRANSCO grid from April 2.

"The plant is expected to generate power at 60 percent Plant Load Factor (PLF) from the re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) that is made available by Andhra Pradesh government and Telangana government through GAIL India," GMR said.