Lok Sabha Question No. 480 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-20
Subject: Transportation of e-Commerce Packages
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dhanush M Kumar, Rebati Tripura, Ganesan Selvam, Sandhya Ray

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 480 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.11.2019

## TRANSPORTATION OF e-COMMERCE PACKAGES

480.  SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR: SHRI REBATI TRIPURA: SHRI SELVAM G: SHRIMATI SANDHYA RAY:

Will the Minister of Railways be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether Indian Railways has partnered with Amazon India for a pilot  programme  to  carry  out  inter-city  transport  of  e-commerce packages,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  routes  identified  for this purpose;
- (b)  the targeted amount to be collected by Railways on this account;
- (c)  whether the Government has also plans to enter into partnership with e-commerce firms for transport of e-commerce packages and if so, the details thereof;
- (d)  the targeted amount to be earned by Railways during this fiscal through freight and passenger travel;
- (e)    whether the Government has taken steps to achieve the target and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f)  the other steps taken by the Government to enhance freight and passenger travel earning of Railways?

ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (f)  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  480  BY  SHRI  DHANUSH  M.  KUMAR, SHRI REBATI TRIPURA, SHRI SELVAM G. AND SHRIMATI SANDHYA RAY TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 20.11.2019 REGARDING TRANSPORTATION OF E-COMMERCE PACKAGES

(a) to  (c) Yes,  Sir.    A  pilot  project  was  launched  to  study  the feasibility of using Railways' parcel service for e-tail players under which  Amazon  India  has  been  provided  2.5  tonnes  space  in  the SLR/Break  Van  under  Guard's  charge  for  loading/unloading  of consignments, in 12314/12313 New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express  and  12952/12951  New  Delhi-Mumbai  Rajdhani  Express trains.    Detailed  guidelines  will  be  formulated  based  on  the outcome of the Pilot Project.

- (d) The  amount  targeted  to  be  earned  by  Railways  during  the financial  year  (2019-20)  through  freight  and  passenger  travel  are ` 1,43,000 crore and ` 56,000 crore respectively.

(e) and (f)  Indian Railways continuously strives to improve passenger as well as freight traffic and earnings over its network.

Some  of  the  initiatives  taken  to  improve  passenger  traffic and earnings are augmentation of on-board capacity, rationalisation  of  Flexi  fare  scheme,  extension  of  Alternate  Train Accommodation  VIKALP  scheme,  increase  in  number  of  RAC berths to provide additional accommodation, etc.

Similarly, various schemes have been introduced to increase earnings  from  freight  business,  such  as  Liberalised  Automatic Freight Rebate scheme for traffic loaded in empty flow direction,

Long  Term  Tariff  Contracts  (LTTC)  with  key  freight  customers, Station  to  Station  rates  (STS),  de-notification  of  large  number  of commodities to bring them under FAK rates, etc. Also, to enhance the freight performance of Indian Railways, steps such as increasing the axle load and length of freight train, use  of  extensive  computerization,  deployment  of  higher  capacity wagons and locomotives, improvement in track and signaling, etc are being taken. * ** ** ** ** ** *