Indian railways plans freight optimisation projects worth ₹90K cr

01 Nov '22

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

The Indian railways ministry will roll out projects worth ₹90,000 crore in the months ahead to remove bottlenecks in the movement of freight, according to railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who recently said the projects—both small and big—will be sanctioned in the next few months, and will help realise the target of loading 3,000 million tonnes (mt) of goods.

Vaishnaw was addressing the 17th foundation day of Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCC).

The railways intends to double its cargo loading from 1,418 mt in 2021-22 to 3,000 mt by 2027 under Mission 3000, and dedicated freight corridors (DFCs) are expected to play an important role in this endeavour. Fifty-six per cent of the two DFCs of the railways are operational, with completion of a majority of the network expected by 2023.

As earlier public-private-partnership (PPP) efforts by the railways did not elicit the desired response, the ministry would need extensive funding, especially through budgetary support, for these infrastructure plans.

“Through the support of the railway officials, we were able to get an additional ₹12,000 crore from the Centre for this financial year. Now, we should aim to reach at least ₹2 trillion as the capital support from the general budget for railways,” Vaishnaw was quoted as saying by a top business daily.

The ministry was allocated ₹1.37 trillion as budgetary support in the union budget for fiscal 2021-22.

The minister urged DFCC to look at smaller, focused freight corridors for short distances, such as corridors between ports and major mining areas, where the potential for revenue growth and goods loading is significant.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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