RITES conducting feasibility studies along IMEC corridor

• Leading railway PSU, RITES Ltd. has emerged as a key contender among other Indian railway companies eyeing development along the strategic India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)

Key Highlights

• RITES and AD Ports are now analysing the feasibility of development along missing links across the existing rail corridor
  • That passes through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel,
• Assessments are being done on the kind of capacity augmentation required, kind of designs and costs involved.
• Even though it is a desert area, the terrain is not that challenging that it can’t be done,”
• Similarly, a proposed rail route from Jebel Ali (UAE) to Haifa spans 2,565 km with missing link of 745 km
• Another route from Abu Dhabi to Haifa spans 2,449 km with 629 km of missing link, while the proposed route from Dammam port to Haifa is 2,149 km with 289 km of missing link.
• Lastly, Ras Al-Khair port to Haifa spans 1,809 km with 269 km of missing link.

India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) Project

• The proposed IMEC will consist of Railroad, Ship-to-Rail networks and Road transport routes extending across two corridors, that is,
  • The East Corridor – connecting India to the Arabian Gulf,
  • The Northern Corridor – connecting the Gulf to Europe.
• The IMEC corridor will also include an electricity cable, a hydrogen pipeline and a high-speed data cable.

Prelims Takeaway

• India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor
• Map based question