Rail Budget 2008-09 promises to bring in a big bonanza for railways?freight customers. as the ministry is likely to announce a slew of freight incentives, aimed primarily at producers of bulk commodities with an eye on increasing its share of freight transportation. In the offing, is the option for customers with bulk commodities to construct ?bulk terminals? which would allow for storage and transportation of a specific commodity being transported in bulk. Railways would provide discounted haulage rates and land to the customer who would construct the terminal.
A Rail Bhawan official said, ?The terminal can have specialised wagons and a specialised silo for loading and unloading of the commodity in an unpacked form.? Such terminals would require investments of at least Rs 40 crore. Railways is eyeing cement and fly ash manufacturers and food grain companies for this project. And this is not all. Railways is also planning more freight related schemes with larger discounts.
Ministry officials said discounts under the long-term agreement scheme and those under empty flow are likely to be increased and they will be expanded to more commodities. Under the long-term agreement scheme, railways provides exclusive wagons for customers who would give them with a traffic guarantee for at least a 25-year period. The service comes at a premium of about 5% of the freight charges.
A railway official said at present the agreements are being signed mainly by coal and electricity companies. Railways wants that other customers such as steel and iron ore companies should also sign up for such pacts. ?Such agreements would help us understand the future traffic potential and build our infrastructure accordingly,? the official added.
The ministry is also looking at a proposal to increase discounts under the empty flow direction scheme. Under this, customers are given a 30% discount all year round for traffic going in the opposite direction from a busy transport hub. The discount is available to all commodities except coal, coke and iron ore. All these schemes are expected to boost railways? freight transportation business. It has set a target of 1,100 million tonne (mt) of freight loading in the next five years. Meanwhile its is also confident of exceeding its freight loading target of 785 mt for the current fiscal.