Railways invites EoIs for agri-retail shops
To spruce up revenues, Indian Railways no longer goes for rate hikes, but talks deals-in retailing, luxury trains and even perfumed tickets. Walk this way!
By Rajat Guha, TNN |
NEW DELHI: There’s no slowing for the retail bandwagon in spite of the backlash against organised retail is spreading across the country at an alarming pace. Driving the Retail Express now is the Indian Railways, which has invited expression of interest from retail chains to set up agri-retail outlets in surplus railway lands. Reliance, Tatas, Bharati, Future group and Adanis are all in talks with the railways, which has become one of the most enterprising organisations in the country under its mercurial minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
And the trade-off? Private retailers will ensure steady cargo traffic for the railways. In return, they would be assured of freight rates lower than the existing market rates.
“The agri-retail chain is a win-win formula for all the three parties — the Railways, the retailers and the farmers,” a Rail Bhawan official said on condition of anonymity. “Farmers would be provided ideal remunerative price for their produce that at times rots due to lack of proper storage facilities or transportation,” the official added.
The railways is also considering retailers’ proposal to create a refrigerated rail link between the agri hubs for transporting perishable agri commodities. The hubs would be created in non-metro stations, facilitating transportation of agri products using the rail network and provide for their sale at the local level. For every hub, retailers would enter into a joint venture with the Railways. The Railways would have land as their equity in the JVs.
India produces nearly 13% of the world’s vegetables and 10% of fruit. However, nearly 25% of the produce is wasted due to lack of proper storage. In the past, the railways had attempted to run refrigerated rakes in the eastern region but the project did not have many takers. Senior officers said one possible reason for this failure could be the fact that no study was conducted to figure out the demand for such rakes.
The Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) has been entrusted with the task of floating the tender for inviting expression of interest from corporate houses and cooperative institutions. The Railways has a total 4.23 lakh hectares of surplus land out of which 43,000 hectares is vacant land.
And the trade-off? Private retailers will ensure steady cargo traffic for the railways. In return, they would be assured of freight rates lower than the existing market rates.
“The agri-retail chain is a win-win formula for all the three parties — the Railways, the retailers and the farmers,” a Rail Bhawan official said on condition of anonymity. “Farmers would be provided ideal remunerative price for their produce that at times rots due to lack of proper storage facilities or transportation,” the official added.
The railways is also considering retailers’ proposal to create a refrigerated rail link between the agri hubs for transporting perishable agri commodities. The hubs would be created in non-metro stations, facilitating transportation of agri products using the rail network and provide for their sale at the local level. For every hub, retailers would enter into a joint venture with the Railways. The Railways would have land as their equity in the JVs.
India produces nearly 13% of the world’s vegetables and 10% of fruit. However, nearly 25% of the produce is wasted due to lack of proper storage. In the past, the railways had attempted to run refrigerated rakes in the eastern region but the project did not have many takers. Senior officers said one possible reason for this failure could be the fact that no study was conducted to figure out the demand for such rakes.
The Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) has been entrusted with the task of floating the tender for inviting expression of interest from corporate houses and cooperative institutions. The Railways has a total 4.23 lakh hectares of surplus land out of which 43,000 hectares is vacant land.
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