Rlys may ferry cement, steel for less

NEW DELHI: Cement, sugar and steel sectors would not be required to pay the busy season surcharge of 15% on freight cost. Railways would continue mini trains even beyond the lean season without any surcharge.

The busy season starts from October and continues till May. An announcement to this effect would be made after the monsoon session of Parliament.

In his Rail Budget speech, railway minister Lalu Prasad had announced that on demand from mineral-based industries such as steel and cement freight rates for transportation of all minerals, including iron ore and limestone, would be charged at Class 160 instead of 170, thus reducing freight rates for these commodities by about 6%.

“In the Railway Budget, many discount schemes were announced meant only for raw materials. Now, we would also announce major discounts for finished products also,” a source in the Rail Bhawan said.

The mini rake scheme was introduced to enable loads smaller than full-freight rakes (usually half-size or 20 wagons) get booked for transport by the Railways at full train load prices, for distances up to about 300 km with connecting services for transhipment to road transport. These rakes were only permitted in the lean season, but now the Railways would permit their usage beyond the lean season.

Apart from announcing major discounts for the industry, the Railways are also in the process of signing long-term service agreements with companies where they would guarantee the companies rakes for all seasons. The Railways would also pay penalty if they failed to abide by the terms of agreement. The same would apply to companies as well.

According to sources in the Rail Bhawan, the Railways are in advanced talks with steel and cement players such as Tata Steel, Sail, Jindal, RIL (for transportation of pet coke), Grasim, JayPee Cement and Lafarge.