Container Rail: Powering the Future of Indian Railways
NEW DELHI : The Container Rail Symposium 2025, jointly organised by FICCI and the Association of Container Train Operators (ACTO), brought together key government and industry leaders to reflect on the 20-year journey of deregulated container train operations and chart the path ahead.
Shri Prabhas Dansana, Principal Executive Director – Traffic Transportation (M), Ministry of Railways, called container rail “the future of Indian Railways,” noting that the sector is central to achieving the national target of 40–45% containerised traffic in the upcoming five-year plan. He outlined steps being taken—like rationalising container rates and allowing bulk container movement at reduced tariffs—to encourage adoption and competitiveness.
Echoing this vision, Dr Surendra Ahirwar, Executive Director – Traffic Commercial, Ministry of Railways, emphasized the critical role of Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs), innovation, and capacity creation in enabling cost-effective, efficient rail logistics. “Growth in container rail is growth for Indian Railways,” he remarked.
Mr Manish Puri, President, ACTO, said that with the CTO licenses set for renewal post the 2006 deregulation, this is the right time to assess sector performance, identify gaps, and implement policy and regulatory interventions. He advocated for a level playing field and operational parity for container rail, in line with MCA terms.
The event also witnessed the release of the FICCI-PwC Knowledge Report titled “Container Train Operations after 20 Years of Deregulation: The Way Forward,” offering sector-specific insights and actionable strategies to boost policy effectiveness, enhance capacity, and reduce logistics costs.
Other key stakeholders present at the Symposium included, Mr Sanjay Swarup, CMD, CONCOR, Mr Sachin Bhanushali, Advisor, FICCI Committee on Logistics, Mr S Ramakrishna, Former Chairman & Advisor, Federation of Freight Forwarder’ Associations in India (FFFAI), Mr Sagar Kadu, Director, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Mr Sunil Vaswani, Executive Director, Container Shipping Lines Association (CSLA).
Source : FICCI