Zinc can help build corrosion-free infra for Railways: HZL CEO Sunil Duggal

Corrosion reduces life of rails & increases maintenance workload

Pitching for corrosion-free infrastructure for the Railways, Hindustan Zinc CEO Sunil Duggal on Sunday said galvanising tracks could help achieve zero fatalities.

According to estimates, India loses about 4 per cent GDP annually on account of corrosion of such infrastructure.

"Zinc can help build corrosion-resistant infrastructure for Indian Railways that will help the Railways achieve zero fatality," Duggal told PTI.

He reasoned that corrosion-free infrastructure like rails, bridges, electrical poles, and fish plates will be more durable and add to passengers' safety.

Terming the Railways' vision document as "progressive", Duggal said the need is to have corrosion-free infrastructure.

"Rail tracks in India are intermittently exposed to ultra violet rays of the sun and heavy rains. Passenger safety is of utmost importance and recent accidents have indicated corrosion of rails and fish plates as one of the major causes, which could have been avoided," he said.

He made a case for corrosion-resistant infrastructure for not just rails, but bridges, electrical poles, fish plates and nuts and bolts "if we are looking for long-term investments in this sector and impact GDP of India".

According to Duggal, corrosion reduces the life of rails by nearly half, which increases maintenance workload.

The ministry's vision document for 2017-19 puts a premium on economic growth and development, besides targeting reduction in accidents.

For now, the Railways is focusing on bridges and track upgradation, long-lasting infrastructure and electrification of train tracks and looking to eliminate 6,113 unmanned level crossings on broad gauge lines across India.

Hindustan Zinc (HZL) in association with International Zinc Association (IZA) has recently organised an international conference on the galvanisation process.

Vedanta Group firm HZL had posted 81 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 1,876 crore for the quarter ended June, helped by better pricing and higher volume.

The total income during the April-June quarter stood at Rs 5,543 crore, registering an increase of 61 per cent over the year-ago period.