The government on Wednesday informed Parliament that a committee has been formed under the Ministry of Agriculture with representatives from the Railways to work out the modalities of “Kisan Rail” proposed in the Union Budget 2020-21.
In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the Railways would set up a Kisan Rail programme through public-private partnership to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, including milk, meat and fish.
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Refrigerated coaches are to be built in express and freight trains for transport of goods from farms to ports.
A senior Railway official said in a first such attempt towards operating Kisan Rail, a refrigerated container also called reefer container was run between Tadipatri, Andhra Pradesh, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Maharashtra, carrying bananas for export to West Asia on January 30.
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The official said the Railways plans to run at least 25 rakes each carrying 43 reefer containers in the next three months. He said the Railways is also eyeing transportation of pharmaceuticals using these reefer containers.
The Railways has already designed refrigerated vans and nine such vans are already in use. Their carrying capacity is 17 tonnes.
