New Delhi, Feb 22 (IANS) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) Thursday approved two dedicated railway freight corridors worth Rs.281.81 billion ($6.3 billion) in the next five years for expediting movement of goods trains.

Addressing reporters after the CCEA meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P. Chidambram said the construction of the Eastern Freight Corridor would cost the exchequer Rs.118.49 billion. The Western Freight Corridor would be built with an investment of Rs.168.92 billion.

The two double-lane dedicated corridors would be 100 percent owned by the Indian Railways.

The project would be funded by a variety of sources, Chidambaram said, adding that Japan had also promised to fund the project for which further agreement would be worked out.

The CCEA also approved construction of the Greenfield locomotive factory at Madhepura in northern Bihar at a cost of Rs.12.94 billion.