Several leading multinationals, including Nestle, Hindustan Lever and Proctor & Gamble, are negotiating with the ministry of railways for building `mother' godowns on railway land and launching dedicated freight services for their products.

"These companies usually have 15-16 mother godowns spread across the country and use road transport. We have said they can have their godowns on railway land near major stations and distribute their products through a dedicated container service," Shanti Narayan, member (traffic) in the railway board told Business Standard.

This is the first major move by the Indian Railways to target the consumer goods sector and less-than-trainload freight.

The railways had so far focused on full rakeloads because it is more profitable.

Besides offering land, the railways will rope in the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) to build godowns near railway stations for these companies.

In some places like Shahdra railhead in Delhi, the Central Warehousing Corporation already has its own godown, which can be leased out to these companies.

"Nestle has a problem with pilferage during road movement. Its products are costly and pilferage can cause serious loss. Other companies also face the same problem. The railways ensure that there is no pilferage or damage to goods during transit," Narayan said.