Coal continued to be the heavyweight in Indian Railways’ freight growth, with the railways reporting a loading of 64.82 million tonne (MT) for October 2023. This comes amidst an overall surge in freight loading and revenue for the month, cementing coal’s dominance in India’s rail freight segment.
Total originating freight loading for the railways in October 2023 touched 129.03 MT, marking an 8.47% increase from 118.95 MT in the same month the previous year.
Concurrently, the freight revenue for October stood at Rs. 14231.05 crores, showing a 6.57% boost compared to Rs 13353.81 crore in October 2022.
Beyond coal, other significant contributors to the loading figures included iron ore at 14.81 MT, pig iron and finished steel at 5.74 MT, and cement at 6.32 MT, excluding clinker. The report also detailed loading of 4.77 MT in clinker, 3.62 MT in foodgrains, 5.72 MT in fertilizers, 4.35 MT in mineral oil, 7.15 MT in containers, and 8.55 MT in other goods.
Driven by its mantra, “Hungry For Cargo”, Indian Railways has been focusing on enhancing the ease of business and delivering services at competitive rates. The recent numbers underscore the importance of coal in India’s transportation matrix and the railway’s commitment to ensuring its efficient movement across the country.