Indian Rlys sees 34% rise in automobile freight at 3.35 mn tonnes in FY22

The Railways' overall annual freight rose 16% in 2021-22, to an all-time high of 1,278.8 mt

Automobile freight loading for Indian Railways has increased 34% in FY22 (2021-22). A total of 3.35 million tonnes (mt) of automobiles have been ferried by the national transporter in 2021-22, a Ministry of Railways official told Business Standard.

Indian Railways recorded the highest ever annual freight loading increment in 2021-22, recording 1278.8 mt of freight loading, witnessing a growth of 176.2 mt as against the same period last fiscal year, as per data recently released by railways ministry.

"We have already crossed our target of 1250 mt of freight loading for the year, and are looking at over 1400 mt of freight for the full fiscal year," the official said.

"There's been pent-up demand in the economy and we've responded to it with wagon supply and efficient monitoring," said the railways official.

Automobiles account for a miniscule portion of the railways' total freight numbers because they're not as heavy compared to other big-ticket items that make up the railways' freight basket, another official said.

Indian Railways has been in the process of diversifying its freight basket, seeing automobiles as a potential space to tap into. It had liberalised its automobile freight train operator (AFTO) policy in 2018, with the aim of attracting more interest from automobile companies. Under the revised policy, registration fee for AFTO was reduced by 40% to Rs. 3 crore, along with relaxations under the minimum procurement policy.

While automobile freight is minimal in comparison to the overall rail freight volume, automobile manufacturers have been aiming increasing the share of railways in transporting cars. 

Carmaker Maruti Suzuki has previously said that it aims to transport at least half of its cars via railways by 2030, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions incurred on account of road transportation of car units.

Other companies, including Mahindra & Mahindra and Kia have also started using railways for transportation of their cars.