JSW Steel Limited, a mega integrated steel plant in Torangal having many firsts to its credit, has added one more milestone. It is the first company in South India to acquire two rakes (railway goods wagons) of its own under the Liberalised wagon investment scheme of the Railways.
One of the two rakes (each with 45 wagons) loaded with its steel products set off on its journey towards Hyderabad on Sunday, after Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, through video link, formally flagged off the rakes at a function in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Daily, around 28 rakes bring in raw material, while around eight to 10 rakes carry finished products such as steel, slag and cement from Torangal to various destinations making JSW Steels one of the major freight revenue generators for the Railways — it was ₹ 3,700 crore in the financial year 2016-17 and the projection for the current year being ₹ 4,400 crore. The advantage of owning the rakes would not only reduce dependency/uncertainty in getting rakes for dispatch of products but would also ensure timely supply of products to customers. In addition, around 20 % of transportation cost gets reduced that could be passed onto customers.
The rakes, purchased from Baroda at a cost of ₹ 25 crore, are specially designed to transport steel products with utmost care to automobile, white goods sector and other industries. These two rakes will operate on pre-defined destinations.
“We are planning to acquire two more rakes. Prior to that, we need to build the required infrastructure, including railway sidings, a yard, at Toranagal and also at the destinations proposed,” P. Rajashekar, president and head of JSW Steels, Vijayanagar, said.
