Rail freight grows at 1.4% in April ; coal cargo rises by 6.3%

NEW DELHI : Indian Railways in April rang up a tepid 1.45 per cent growth rate in its freight volumes, transporting 128.29 million tonnes of goods, according to government officials.

While coal freight rose by 6.3 per cent year-on-year to 66 mt, weak growth in other commodities brought the growth rate down.

“Freight revenue of Rs 14,075.14 crore was achieved in April 2024 against Rs 13,893.27 crore in April 2023, thereby showing an improvement of about 1.30 per cent over the last year,” the official said.

Coal is the mainstay of railways’ freight earnings and accounts for 50 per cent of the transporter’s cargo volumes and revenue.

In other commodities, the national transporter loaded 14.88 mt of iron ore, 5.24 mt of pig iron and finished steel, 6.79 mt of cement, 4.75 mt of clinker, 3.85 mt of foodgrains, 4.01 mt of fertilisers, 4.16 mt of mineral oil, 6.57 mt of containers, etc during April.

Its movement of finished goods increased only marginally in April. The Centre is looking to offer 200 additional Gati Shakti cargo terminals to increase its share of finished goods in the national logistics pipeline.