Hyderabad: South Central Railway (SCR) has roped in Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) to identify new opportunities and strategies to expand its freight business, with the railway zone and neighbouring South Coast Railway (SCoR) jointly targeting 264 million tonnes of freight loading by 2030.SCR had engaged IIMB in Feb this year for a comprehensive study of the freight market, covering key commodities such as cement, coal, steel, agricultural products, automobiles, port traffic, cargo and containers. The institute has conducted more than six months of field research across major freight-generating and handling areas served by the erstwhile SCR zone’s six divisions.An interim report from the study was discussed with freight customers and industry representatives. The study has also examined emerging freight opportunities, including new ports along the Andhra coast, the Jalna dry port, multimodal logistics parks, upcoming steel plants and the electric vehicle cluster at Bidkin near Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra.Potential for setting up new freight terminals and GatiShakti cargo terminals, improving rail connectivity and introducing more customer-friendly freight schemes was also assessed. The stakeholder meeting included separate panel discussions on cement, coal and fly ash, ports, cargo and container services, as well as interactions with chambers of commerce.SCR general manager Sanjay Kumar Srivastava said Indian Railways had set an ambitious target of 3,000 million tonnes of freight loading by 2030, with SCR and SCoR together expected to contribute 264 million tonnes. He asked IIMB to convert the feedback received from industry into actionable recommendations so that the railway could take corrective measures to improve freight transportation.
