Lok Sabha Question No. 5442 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-25
Subject: Rail Logistics and PPP Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Adv. Chandra Shekhar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5442

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026

## RAIL LOGISTICS AND PPP PROJECTS

## 5442. ADV. CHANDRA SHEKHAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  acknowledges  the  need  for  an  independent regulator  to  manage  privatisation  risks,  ensure  equitable  access  and resolve regulatory gaps in associated enterprises and transfer pricing, as urged by experts considering the World Bank-backed rail logistics for freight efficiency and emissions reduction, revived by the 2026 Budget's Public Private Partnership projects emphasis on high-speed and freight corridors and if so, the timeline for its creation; and
- (b)  the  manner in which it will curb monopolies while promoting non-fare revenue via innovations like waste monetisation and solar projects?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)  &  (b):  To  bring  efficiency  in  operations,  reduce  emissions,  enhance freight loading and revenue, Indian Railway has taken several measures for network expansion and faster movement. As a result, freight performance since 2014 has grown as under:-

| Year    | Freight loading (in Million Tonnes)   |
|---------|---------------------------------------|
| 2014-15 | 1,098                                 |
| 2015-16 | 1,104                                 |
| 2016-17 | 1,109                                 |
| 2017-18 | 1,162                                 |
| 2018-19 | 1,223                                 |
| 2019-20 | 1,210                                 |
| 2020-21 | 1,233                                 |

| 2021-22   | 1,418   |
|-----------|---------|
| 2022-23   | 1,512   |
| 2023-24   | 1,591   |
| 2024-25   | 1,617   |

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The freight loading has increased from 1,233 MT in 2020-21 to 1,617 MT in 2024-25. During  2024-25,  IR  transported  1,617  MT  thus  becoming  second largest freight carrying Railways in the world. The measures taken include following:

- To increase the network capacity, rail network expansion has been taken up in a big way by construction of new lines, multi tracking of  existing  lines,  and  gauge  conversion  of  existing  lines.  The details of new tracks laid during the 10 years are as under:

| Period    | New track commissioned   |
|-----------|--------------------------|
| 2009 - 14 | 7,599 Km                 |
| 2014-25   | 34, 428 Km               |

## Further as on 01.04.25, there are 431 (154 New Line, 33 Gauge Conversion and 244 Doubling) projects sanctioned. The summary of which is as under:-

| Category                 |   No. of Projects | Total Length (Km)   | Length completed till Mar'25 (Km)   | Balance length (Km)   | Cost (Cr.)   |
|--------------------------|-------------------|---------------------|-------------------------------------|-----------------------|--------------|
| New lines                |               154 | 16,142              | 3,036                               | 13,105                | 3,77,389     |
| Gauge conversion         |                33 | 4,180               | 2,997                               | 1,183                 | 43,820       |
| Doubling/ Multi tracking |               244 | 15,644              | 6,736                               | 8,909                 | 2,53,711     |
| Total                    |               431 | 35,966              | 12,769                              | 23,197                | 6,74,920     |

## The details of total track kilometres of Indian Railways are as under:-

| Year    | Total Track Kilometers of Indian Railways (IR)   |
|---------|--------------------------------------------------|
| 2003-04 | 1,08,486                                         |
| 2013-14 | 1,16,765                                         |
| 2024-25 | 1,37,522                                         |

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- Procurement of Wagons and Locomotives: To increase freight carrying  capacity,  large  numbers  of  IR  wagons  have  been  procured and locomotives have been manufactured. During 2014 to 2025, about 2 lakh wagons have been procured and more than 10,000 locomotives have been added for increasing freight loading and mobility.
- Removing bottlenecks in operations by yard remodelling, construction of bypass/chord lines, rail flyovers etc.
- The construction of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana  to  Sonnagar  (1337  Km)  and  Western  Dedicated  Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) to Dadri (1506 Km) has been taken up. Out of total 2843 kms, 2741 route kms (96.4%) has been commissioned and operational.
- Indian  Railways  has  taken  up  electrification  of  Railway  lines  in  a mission mode. So far, about 99.4% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified. A comparison of electrification before and after 2014 is as follows:
- Industry  participation  in  investment  in  General  Purpose  Wagons, Special Purpose/HighCapacity wagons  and Automobile carrier wagons for cement, oil, steel, fly-ash, automobile etc. By the FY 202425,  around  240  rakes  of  special  purpose  wagons,  374  rakes  of general-purpose,  wagons  and  48  rakes  of  automobile  wagons  have been inducted.
- Under the 'Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT)' policy so far, 128  new  GCTs  have  been  commissioned,  with  an  estimated  traffic capacity  of  198  million  tonnes  per  annum  (MTPA).  In  addition,  for improvement of freight and parcel terminals from the financial year 2023-24 onwards, an amount of ₹14,500 crore has been allocated.

| Period                | Route Kilometre   |
|-----------------------|-------------------|
| Before 2014           | 21,801            |
| 2014-26 (upto Feb 26) | 47,966            |

- A 'Bulk Cement Terminal Policy' for setting up terminals on Railway land  has  been  launched  recently  as  part  of  Railway  reforms  for facilitating Bulk Cement transportation.
- Ensuring increased availability of rakes/wagons against demand.
- Increasing  the  loadability  for  carrying  additional  traffic  per  wagon. Length of freight trains has also been increased to increase throughput per train.
- Use  of  Information  Technology  in  freight  operations  to  improve monitoring and utilization of assets.
- ●
- Induction of higher horsepower locomotives.
- Improvement  in  maintenance  practices  of  wagons  and  locomotives resulting in increased availability of loco and rolling stock for traffic use.
- Improvement in track and signaling standards to carry higher volume of traffic.
- Training  of  staff  and  officers  to  adopt  the  new  technology  and management practices.

Further, Indian Railway has taken various steps to promote the improvement of freight segment through freight rationalization, adoption of various  freight  incentive  schemes  for  transportation  of  bulk  and  small cargo & various concession and services. Some of them are as under:

- Introduction  of  Gross  Tonne  Kilometer  based  haulage  rate  for  Bulk Cement in Tank Containers,
- Cargo  Aggregator  Transportation  Product  to  promote  Fast  -  Moving Consumer  Goods  (FMCG),  White  Goods,  Electronics,  Automotive Components, etc.,
- Liberalised  Automatic  Freight  Rebate  Scheme  in  Traditional  Empty Flow Directions,
- Concession on Short lead traffic,

- Discount  in  freight  to  Fly  Ash  /  Bed  Ash  traffic  booked  in  Open/flat Stock & covered wagons,
- ●
- Rationalisation of Haulage rate of Automobile traffic,
- Promotion  of  Bamboo  Traffic  in  North  Eastern  Region  by  granting exemption from levy of Busy Season Charge (BSC).
- To  enhance  the  capacity  of  the  automobile  stock,  various  new wagons have been introduced such as ACT 1, ACT 2, ACT 3, NMGHS, etc.
- Discount  on  empty  haulage  of  containers  transporting  Chemical Gypsum and Tiles traffic,
- Classification  of  new  commodities  such  as  Potassium  Sulphate, Ammonium Bicarbonate Food Grade, RUF Pitch, Liquefied Isobutylene, Liquefied Ethane, etc.

The freight train movement is continuously monitored through the Freight Operations Information System (FOIS). To reduce empty runs and enhance wagon productivity, following measures have been taken:

- Traditional  Empty  Flow  Direction  (TEFD)  Policy:  Providing  freight discounts (up to 15-20%) to customers for loading traffic in the empty flow direction.
- Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals (GCT): Fast-tracking the development of terminals to reduce detention times at loading/unloading points.
- Stationary  Asset  Optimization:  Deployment  of  high-speed  freight locomotives  and  the  commissioning  of  Dedicated  Freight  Corridors (DFCs) to segregate freight and passenger traffic.
- Dynamic  Pricing:  Implementation  of  various  incentive  schemes  for "Round Trip" loading to encourage back-haul traffic.

Non-Fare Revenue and Innovations:

Several measures have been taken by Indian Railways to increase Non-fare Revenue, which includes the following:

1. Advertisement through Rail Display Network (RDN) at stations.
2. 2.
3. Advertisement through Out of Home (OOH) Policy.
3. Advertisement  on  Mobile  Assets  like  coaches  and  inside/exterior
5. surfaces of trains and locomotives.
4. Innovative solutions to enhance passengers' satisfaction, like provision  for  sleeping  pods,  single-brand  premium  outlet,  kiosk  for providing  facility  for  booking  auto  &  taxis,  providing  E-wheel  chair facility  on  a  payment  basis,  health  kiosk,  and  medical  store  to  sell generic medicines.
5. In  2025-26  (till  Feb.)  the  total  Sundry  Non-fare  revenue  (Sundry Earnings) of Indian Railways was ₹ 9474 cr., which was about 3.9% of Railways' total receipts.
6. Some  Divisions  have  also  taken  up  wagon-cleaning  contracts  by allowing the sale of leftover coal or cement.
7. 1308 hectares of vacant land (not immediately required by Railways for operational needs) have been entrusted to the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) for commercial development to generate non-fare revenue.

The Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) for capital investment in Railways has increased substantially from ₹ 29,055 crore in 2013-14 to ₹ 2.78 lakh crore in  2026-27.  This  enhanced  budgetary  support  has  enabled  significant investments  in  network  expansion,  rolling  stock  augmentation,  safety improvements,  passenger  amenities,  road  safety  works,  and  technology upgradation. Adequate domestic funding has strengthened the capacity of Indian Railways to bridge critical gaps in logistics and infrastructure. PPP

investments,  wherever  feasible,  have  continued  to  complement  overall network development.

Indian  Railways  is  wholly  owned  by  Government  of  India.  All  Zonal Railways,  Production  Units,  Workshops  etc.  are  integral  part  of  Indian Railways.  All  assets  like  railway  tracks,  signaling  system,  rolling  stocks etc. are under the ownership of Indian Railways only. Trains' operation is the responsibility of Indian Railways.

Presently, there is no plan to privatise the Indian Railways.

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