Lok Sabha Question No. 544 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-01
Subject: Improvement in Freight market
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Ritesh Pandey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.544 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.12.2021

## IMPROVEMENT IN FREIGHT MARKET

544.  SHRI RITESH PANDEY :

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Railways  is  planning  to  take  any  measures  to improve freight market share in the country;
- (b) if so, the freight earnings of Railways during 2020-21;
- (c) whether the Railways has any data regarding number  of kilometers per wagon per day; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  544  BY  SHRI  RITESH  PANDEY  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 01.12.2021 REGARDING IMPROVEMENT IN FREIGHT MARKET

(a)        Indian  Railways  has  taken  various  steps  to  increase  the  freight market share, such as withdrawal of Busy Season Charge, Concession in long  lead  traffic  &  Short  lead  traffic,  25%  concession  on  movement  of empty container & empty flat wagon, 5% discount on movement of loaded container,  proliferation of Roll-on Roll-off (RORO) services, de-notification of  large  number  of    commodities  for  charging  at  Freight  All  Kind  (FAK) rates, Roundtrip charges on ultra short (upto 50 KM) lead container traffic with further delegation for lead upto 250km to Zonal Railways, Liberalised loaded  in  empty  flow direction, Long Term Tariff Contracts (LTTC) with key freight customers, Station to Station rates (STS), discount on loading of bagged consignment

Automatic  Freight  Rebate  scheme  for  traffic in open and flat wagons.

Use of extensive computerization in freight operations to improve monitoring  and  to  improve  utilization  of  assets,  deployment  of  higher capacity locomotives and higher capacity wagons, improvement in maintenance practices of wagons and locomotives resulting in increased availability of rolling stock for traffic, improvement in track and signaling to carry the higher volume of traffic, training staff and officers to adopt the new technology and management practices.

Two  Dedicated  Freight  Corridors  (Western  &  Eastern  Dedicated  Freight Corridors)  have  been  taken  up  to  create  adequate  capacity,  which  is essential requirement to cater to the traffic demand and improve quality of service.

Indian Railways has also introduced some schemes, which involve private investment for improving freight share of Railways in the country such as General  Purpose  Wagon  Investment  Scheme  (GPWIS)  for  procurement  of general  purpose  wagons  by  private  parties,  Liberalized  Special  Freight Train Operator Scheme for procurement of Special Purpose/High Capacity Wagons,  Automobile  freight  Train  Operator  Scheme  for  investment  in Automobile  carrier  wagons,  Policy  on  Private  sidings,  Policy  on  Private freight Terminals, Policy on development of Goods sheds at small roadside stations through private investment etc.

The  above  schemes  have  been  well  received by the stakeholders. Interactions are held with the stakeholders/investors on regular basis and based on the suggestions/ demands raised by them, appropriate changes are made in the investment policies from time to time to make them more suitable for market conditions, and thus improve freight share of Railways.

(b) The freight earnings of Railways during 2020-21 is ₹ 1,17,231.82 Cr.

- (c) Yes, Sir.
- (d) Wagon Kilometers per wagon per day on line (in terms of 8 wheelers)

for the Year 2019-20 is 188.7 Kms.

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