NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways has invited bids for manufacturing and procurement of 90,000 wagons with an investment of Rs 30,000 crore to meet the growing demand of wagons amid its increased focus on freight transport.
Officials said the high volume and high value tender has been floated keeping in mind the expected increase in the type of freight it would get in the next 2-3 years.
For example, out of the total 90,000 wagons, 42,000 will be the ones used for transporting coal and another 40,000 for ferrying commodities such as cement and foodgrains.
Another 8,000 wagons will be procured for transportation of items such as rails and heavy steel products.
“We have set the target to increase the freight loading to 2,024 million tonnes (MT) in 2024 and for that we need to have enough wagons. This is also going to bring us more revenue and there will also be more investment in railways,” said an official.
The total freight loading is expected to touch 1,400 MTs during the current financial year ending March 31.
Officials said the addition of one MT of freight generates nearly Rs 80-100 crore revenue for railways.
Recently, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said the performance of railways will largely depend on how they increase freight loading.
The railways finances are completely dependent on freight as it incurs huge losses in the passenger segment and the earnings from freight is used as cross-subsidy for passenger services.
