Railways Need to Double Cargo Share to 55 per cent, Says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Indian Railways’ modal share in freight needs to double to 55 per cent for the country to become a globally competitive economy, according to the Railway Minister.

On aggregate, we should be reaching 55 per cent rail and 45 per cent road,” AshwiniVaishnaw said. “The cost of logistics will reduce to anywhere between 7.5-8.0% of the GDP if we do this.

The government’s National Rail Plan aims to increase the share of freight traffic by rail to 45% from 27% by 2030. Measures such as the development of dedicated freight corridors, increasing network capacity and upgrading infrastructure are being executed to meet that objective. The dedicated freight corridors in certain parts of the country are nearing completion, and the laying of new tracks will maintain a pace of 14km a day to cater to the increasing demand, Vaishnav said.

The national transporter added 5,200 km of new tracks in FY23, with Rs 26,000 crore allocated for laying new tracks. In FY24, that allocation rose to Rs 31,850 crore in the overall Rs 2.4 lakh crore budget for the railways. “Anywhere between Rs 2.4 and Rs 2.6 lakh crore is what we should maintain,”Vaishnaw said. “Simultaneously, we have to ramp up operational and safety standards; that’s why we think it is an optimal level for the next few years.”