Railway hopes to win back cargo traffic

The Railways have sprung a surprise. By keeping the freight rates unchanged, they seem set to win back some of the cargo they had lost to other modes of freight transportation â€” coastal shipping and road transportation. The ministry has raised loading target by 10m tonnes to 580m tonnes, while coastal shipping is yet to touch the 50m tonne mark. Over the past few years, the Railways have lost loads of traditional cargo to the road sector and coastal shipping. While the road sector took away the short-hauled cargo, coastal shipping was eating into the long-hauled cargo, especially to destinations and origins in coastal areas. Over the past one year, costs attached to cargo movement by both coastal shipping and road transportation have shot up substantially. While a surge in port charges made coastal shipping expensive, diesel prices have moved up substantially, rendering the road sector cost-ineffective. â€œThe decision to keep freights unchanged will definitely hit the governmentâ€™s plans to boost coastal shipping. With the government implementing road connectivity between major ports and national highways, coastal shipping was expected to boom,â€� said an industry official. He said the Budget on Thursday would provide some sops to give a boost to coastal shipping. India is blessed with a 7,500 km coastline, 12 major ports and a string of about 185 minor ports. The infrastructure is in place and the government is keen to cash in on this inherent advantage. The shipping ministry is also pushing for major ports like Mumbai and Kolkata, apart from the minor ports. The pattern of coastal cargo movement has witnessed a sea change due to modernisation of minor ports and a string of private ports, which have come up along the coastline. Coastal cargo constitutes mainly of POL products and bulk cargo. Of the 30m tonne coastal traffic, share of POL, coal and iron pellets accounts for 99%, while that of general cargo is the balance 1%. Some of the routes/ports, which flourish on coastal traffic include Haldia-Tuticorin for thermal coal, Veraval-Ratnagiri for cement, Goa-Pipavav for iron-ore and Bombay High to Cochin/Vadinar, to name a few. The ministry has been pushing for infrastructure status for coastal shipping apart from a bouquet of fiscal incentives to get this sector on board.

Railway hopes to win back cargo traffic

The Railways have sprung a surprise. By keeping the freight rates unchanged, they seem set to win back some of the cargo they had lost to other modes of freight transportation - coastal shipping and road transportation.

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