by Suresh Pd Nikhar
Gaya: Indian Railways has achieved a commendable milestone in freight loading, reaching 1434.01 million tonnes (MT) from April 2023 to February 2024, compared to last year’s loading of 1367.5 MT, marking an improvement of approximately 66.51 MT over the same period.
Officials from ECR Hazipur reported that Railways earned Rs 155557.1 crore against Rs 149088.1 crore in the previous year, reflecting an improvement of approximately Rs 6468.17 crore over the same period.
In February 2024 alone, the originating freight loading reached 136.60 MT, compared to 124.03 MT in February 2023, showing an improvement of approximately 10.13% over the previous year. Freight revenue for February 2024 stood at Rs 14931.89 crore, compared to Rs 13700.75 crore in February 2023, indicating an improvement of about 8.98% over the previous year.
Indian Railways achieved significant loading figures in various commodities during February 2024, including 59.08 MT in coal, 15.11 MT in iron ore, 5.69 MT in pig iron and finished steel, 7.59 MT in cement (excluding clinker), 5.45 MT in clinker, 5.10 MT in food grains, 3.962 MT in fertilizers, 4.06 MT in mineral oil, 7.00 MT in containers, and 10.66 MT in other goods.
The railways’ strategy of being “Hungry For Cargo” has driven sustained efforts to enhance ease of doing business and improve service delivery at competitive prices. This customer-centric approach, along with the work of Business Development Units and agile policy-making, has played a pivotal role in Indian Railways’ achievement.
