The Indian Railways have set up an ambitious target of 3000 metric ton freight by 2025. The Ministry is also set to announce the rationalization of freight rates for shorter distances and make warehouses at strategic locations for easy movement of freights – ET NOW has learnt. The matter was discussed during a meeting held by Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw with the industry representatives of the cement sector.
Cement is the third largest freight item moved by the Indian railways. ET NOW has reliably learnt that the Railway ministry has offered that if the cement sector players make long term commitments, obstacles and challenges related to transportation and freight of cement will be removed.
Vaishnaw also assured industry players that PM Gatishakti Multimodal Logistics Centre will be set up and tenders have been floated in that direction. Warehouses will also be set up across the country to facilitate movement of cement via rail network.
The Ministry is also examining ways to ensure that the current migration of cement transport to roadways – for shorter distances – is migrated back to the rail routes and is considering rolling out incentives to make rail transport of cement attractive over short distances.
The industry has been assured that availability of wagons, building railway lines for timebound movement of cement and other such nuances will be ironed out in the near-term if the industry confirms long term commitment to usage of rail network for transportation.
