Rail Budget Reaction - Mr. Vineet Agarwal, Managing Director, Transport Corporation of India

Mr. Vineet Agarwal, Managing Director, Transport Corporation of India

"This year's railway budget has been encouraging for the logistics players. The decision to introduce high speed trains for timely delivery of goods and services fulfils our long pending demand. We hope that the continuous push to electrification, gauge conversion and new lines will make the railways and the logistics sector more efficient.

FDI to ensure funds and expertise for the development world-class rail infrastructure and decision to go ahead with PPP projects will lead to rapid modernization of railways. Plans to increase the capacity of cargo containers, restructuring of the railway board and set-up independent Rail Tariff Authority to advise on fixing of fares and freight and to engage all stake-holders will make railways more competitive.

TCI had recommended Multimodal Policy for domestic market for seamless connectivity across different modes of transportation. However, there is no mention of the same in the rail budget.

We are of the view that introduction of corrosion resistant, lighter wagons with higher pay-load and speed potential upto 100kmph; tariff and incentive schemes to encourage traffic to rail and minimizing empty running will make transportation by railways a viable option for logistics players.

The focus on improving country's freight network by setting - up a dedicated freight corridor on the Eastern and Western Routes and third party warehousing in Special Parcel Terminals will lead to critical capacity augmentation thus facilitating faster movement of goods and de-congestion of existing routes. We hope that this policy will later be extended to the entire time-sensitive cargo segment."

Source : Equity Bulls

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