The Indian Railways’ freight loading for the 11 months of FY26 stood at 1503.8 million tonnes (MT), up 3.3% from 1456.1 MT of goods carried in the corresponding period last year, the railways ministry said on Friday. Freight revenues during this period reached Rs 1.61 lakh crore, up over 1.5% from Rs 1.59 lakh crore in the same period last year.
As per the revised estimates, the railways will carry freight of 1700 MT in FY26 while generating an estimated revenues of Rs 1.78 lakh crore.
Commodity Performance
The ministry said that the transporter 137.7 million tonnes of freight during February 2026, registering a near 4% increase compared to 132.5 million tonnes in the same month of 2025. “Freight revenue during the month stood at Rs 14,572 crore, up from Rs 14,152 crore in the corresponding month last year, reflecting a 3% increase,” it said.
In the monthly cumulative performance for February, several commodities registered strong growth. Fertiliser loading increased to 5.4 MT from 4.2 MT (up 27.7%), while Clinker rose to 6.5 MT from 5.4 MT (up 20.1%). Pig iron and finished steel loading reached 6.2 MT compared to 5.5 MT (up 12.9%), and Iron ore grew to 16.4 MT from 14.9 MT (up 9.7%).
As per the government’s estimates, coal alone is expected to account for 49.5% of the total freight loading in FY26. The other major commodities that will drive traffic include cement, iron ore and foodgrains.
“Indian Railways continues to strengthen freight logistics through capacity augmentation, improved terminal infrastructure, dedicated freight corridors and digital freight management systems. These initiatives are helping industries and businesses move goods more efficiently while reducing logistics costs,” the ministry said.
Cross-Subsidisation Challenge
To maintain its competitiveness over roads, the freight rates in railways have not been increased since 2018 despite the rising input costs. Historically, the railways has utilised the profits on the freight side to offset the losses on passenger services. Even though the freight rates have not been increased, the Economic survey 2026 noted that due to the cross-subsidisation, the railways has high freight rates that distort competition with roads, inflate commodity and consumer prices as well as logistics costs. “Rationalising freight rates could improve revenue buoyancy, incentivise a modal shift of freight from roads to rail, and increase market share,” the Eco Survey suggested.