Lok Sabha Question No. 1832 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-30
Subject: Freight Target, 2030
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Raja Ram Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1832 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2025 FREIGHT TARGET, 2030

## 1832. SHRI RAJA RAM SINGH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the manner in which the Government justify the stagnation in non-coal freight, declining revenue growth and underwhelming container performance in light of the stated 3000 MT freight target by 2030;
- (b) whether sectors like cement, foodgrains have shown a declining trend despite announcing diversification, If so, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the details of urgent corrective steps taken/being taken by the Government to address poor uptake of concessions like TEFD and STS falling  from  Rs.5,076  crore  in  Financial  Year  2022  to  Rs.1,733  crore  in Financial Year 2025;
- (d) whether  out  of  230  proposed  Gati  Shakti  Terminals  only  105  are operational, if so, the reasons therefor and the timeline, if any fixed for operations of the rest;
- (e) the manner in which the Government to meet the 3,000 MT goal in view of the fact that new DFC's is still at DPR stage; and
- (f) the details thereof including the DPRs of the projects?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to(f): Indian Railways has achieved steady growth in coal as well non-coal freight.  During  the  last  5  years  from  2019-20  to  2024-25,  the  compound annual  growth  rate  for  overall  freight  revenue  as  well  as  non-coal  freight loading and container services loading is as below:

| Freight revenue growth rate            | 8.6%   |
|----------------------------------------|--------|
| Non-coal freight volume growth rate    | 5.0%   |
| Container services Loading growth rate | 7.7%   |
| Cement loading                         | 5.6%   |
| Food grains                            | 5.8%   |

By  availing  concessions  for  loading  in  empty  flow  direction,  a  number  of Traditional  Empty  Flow  Direction  routes  have  been  converted  into  loaded routes. Indian Railway has taken multi-pronged strategy to promote the freight segment through freight-rate rationalization and adoption of various incentive schemes. Few initiatives taken are as under:

- Diversification of freight basket,
- Telescopic rate benefit to Domestic Coal movement in Rail-Sea-Rail (RSR) mode,
- Reclassification of commodities-Soda Ash Dense/Light, etc.
- Liberalized Automatic Freight Rebate Scheme in Traditional Empty Flow Directions,
- Rationalization of Station-to-Station Rates Policy,
- Rationalization of Merry-Go-Round,
- Concession in Short Lead Traffic,
- Discount in freight to Fly Ash/Bed Ash traffic booked in Open/flat Stock & covered wagons,
- Diversification of commodities for carriage at Haulage rate per TEU in container,
- Rationalized Haulage rate for Bulk Cement in container,
- Promotion of running Mini rake of containers,
- Rationalization of Haulage rate of Automobile traffic,
- Review of Busy Season charge,
- Policy for Cargo Aggregation-Cargo Aggregator Transportation Product,
- Exemption of weighment for empty container, Automobiles, etc.

So far, 112 new Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal (GCT) have been commissioned in a short span of time since policy launch in Dec 2021. A large number of other  GCTs  proposals  are  already  approved  by  the  respective  Zonal Railways, and the projects are in various stages of execution/construction and expected to be completed within the timeframe prescribed under the policy.

Further,  Indian  Railways  has  taken  a  number  of  steps  to  increase  the freight loading and modal share. Some of these are as under:

1. Ensuring increased availability of rakes/wagons against demand.
2. Increasing the loadability for carrying additional traffic per wagon. Length of freight trains has also been increased to increase throughput per train.
3. Improving infrastructure by multi tracking and automatic signaling of busy routes and adding bypasses on busy junctions.
4. Use of Information Technology in freight operations to improve monitoring and utilization of assets.
5. Induction of higher horsepower locomotives.
6. Induction of higher capacity and high-speed wagons.
7. Improvement in maintenance practices of wagons and locomotives resulting in increased availability of loco and rolling stock for traffic use.
8. Improvement in track and signaling to carry higher volume of traffic.
9. Training staff and officers to adopt the new technology and management practices.

The Ministry of Railways has taken up construction of two Dedicated Freight Corridors  (DFC)  viz.  Eastern  Dedicated  Freight  Corridor  (EDFC)  from Ludhiana  to  Sonnagar  (1337Km)  and  the  Western  Dedicated  Freight Corridor  (WDFC)  from  Jawaharlal  Nehru  Port  Terminal  (JNPT)  to  Dadri (1506  Km).  Out  of  total  2843  Km,  2741  Route  Km  (96.4%)  has  been commissioned  and  operational.  The  work  in  balance  section  has  been taken up.

To expand the railway network to increase freight loading capacity and run more passenger and freight trains, the network expansion work has been taken up in a big way.

As  on  01.04.2025,  across  Indian  Railways,  431  Railway  infrastructure projects  (154  New  Line,  33  Gauge  Conversion  and  244  Doubling)  of  total length 35,966 Km, costing approx. Rs 6.75 lakh crore are sanctioned, out of which,  12,769  Km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of approx.  Rs  2.91  lakh  crore  has  been  incurred  upto  March,  2025.  The summary is as below:-

| Category                  |   No. of Projects | Total Length NL/GC/DL (in Km)   | Length Commissioned till Mar'25 (in Km)   | Total Exp. up to Mar'25 (Rs in Cr)   |
|---------------------------|-------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| New Lines                 |               154 | 16,142                          | 3,036                                     | 1,45,318                             |
| Gauge Conversion          |                33 | 4,180                           | 2,997                                     | 22,753                               |
| Doubling / Multi tracking |               244 | 15,644                          | 6,736                                     | 1,22,858                             |
| Total                     |               431 | 35,966                          | 12,769                                    | 2,90,929                             |

Further, to increase the capacity of the rail network, in last 3 years (202223,  2023-24,  2024-  25)  and  current  FY,  933  No.  Surveys  (299  New  line,14 Gauge Conversion and 620 Doubling) of total length 65,488 km have been sanctioned  across  Indian  Railways  for  preparation  of  Detailed  Project Reports.

The sanctioning of the project requires consultation with various stakeholders  including  State  Governments  and  necessary  approvals  viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance etc.

The details  of  commissioning  /  laying  of  new  track  across  Indian  Railways  is given below:-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new   |
|----------|--------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 7,599 Km                 | 1520 km/yr                     |
| 2014-25  | 34,428 km                | 3130 km/yr (more than 2 times) |

Completion  of  Railway  project/s  depends  on  various  factors  like  quick land  acquisition  by  State  Government,  forest  clearance  by  officials  of forest  department,  shifting  of  infringing  utilities,  statutory  clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project/s site, number of working months in a year for particular project site etc. All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s. Various steps taken by the Government for speedy approval and implementation  of  Railway  projects  include  (i)  setting  up  of  Gati  Shakti units (ii) prioritization of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) close monitoring of progress of project at various levels, and (vi) regular follow up with State Governments and concerned authorities for expeditious land acquisition, forestry and Wildlife clearances and for resolving other issues pertaining  to  projects.  This  has  led  to  a  substantial  increase  in  rate  of commissioning since 2014.

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