Category Archives: Rail/Road

The turnover of the automotive component industry stood at Rs 3.49 lakh crore (US$ 49.2 billion) for the fiscal year 2019-20, registering de-growth of 11.7 per cent over the previous year,” informs Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA). Commenting on the performance of the auto component industry in India, Vinnie Mehta, Director General, ACMA said, “The overall vehicle industry witnessed a severe downturn in 2019-20 that saw its sales slump by 18 per cent. Auto Component aftermarket at Rs 69,381 crore (US$ 9.8 billion) remained stable while sales to OEMs in the domestic market at Rs 2.87 lakh crore (US$ 40.5 billion) declined 17 per cent. Both imports and exports declined by 11.4 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively; imports stood at Rs 1.09 lakh crore (US$ 15.4 billion), while exports at Rs 1.02 lakh crore (US$ 14.5 billion)”. Sharing his insights on the performance of the auto component industry in the year gone by, Deepak Jain, President, ACMA said, “The automotive industry faced a prolonged slowdown in FY 2019-20 with vehicle sales in all segments plummeting significantly. Subdued vehicle demand, investments made for transition from BSIV to BSVI, liquidity crunch, lack of clarity on policy for electrification of vehicles and slow-down in key export markets, among others, had an adverse impact on the performance of the components sector in India as also on its expansion plans.”

Talking about industry’s readiness on working on its own, Aditya Shah, Executive Director, V-Trans India, said, “Working on our own is sort of a reality for logistics and the transport industry. The government body is doing its job but the real essence is, we have to build up our own capability and stand up tall. Eventually, if there is no help in future the question remains how will the business model sustain? We have to figure out a business model that would sustain without help and the larger part is already standing on its own. As an industry, we can collaborate amongst ourselves; have some best practices or hand-holding with each other.” Continuing on the collaboration, he said, “Collaborations are opening up slowly but we still have a long way to go.”

Sharing his views on continuous hike in diesel price, Chander Agarwal, Managing Director, TCI Express, informs, “Most of the logistics companies in India are asset heavy. These companies cannot survive due to the increasing diesel price. They can have growth of 60-70 per cent but their bottom line will be 40 per cent. And, imagine 95 per cent of the unorganised economy is having heavy losses; how they are going to continue providing services? The government has to get a hold on this.” Suggesting the solution, he continued, “One important way of doing that could be if there is a change in diesel price, the manufacturing companies which are using the transportation services should be made liable to pay for that change. If the government imposes this on manufacturing companies, a large chunk of the unorganised segment will not face a massive cash crunch and they will be able to survive longer.”

Tata Motors has announced the launch of country’s first 16-wheeler, 47.5-tonne multi-axle tipper truck, named Signa 4825.TK, for surface transport of coal and construction aggregates. The Signa 4825.TK’s gross vehicle weight allows more load per trip with its 29 cubic metre box load body. The truck offers enhanced performance, higher payload capacity, lower total cost of ownership, higher comfort and safety for the driver. The tipper truck is equipped with 3 distinct drive modes – light, medium and heavy – to ensure optimum power and torque selection, based on the load and terrain, ensuring high fuel efficiency. It comes as a factory-built, ready-to-use vehicle with the 29 cubic metre tipper body and hydraulics. The Signa 4825.TK is available in two configurations: 10×4, 10×2 to offer flexibility to the customer, basis their requirement. RT Wasan, Vice President, Product Line, M&HCV, Tata Motors, said, “Recognising the needs of the customers such as those in construction and coal industry who wish to complete large projects ahead of time, we have developed India’s largest tipper, with gross vehicle weight of 47.5 tonnes. It has been our constant endeavour to deliver the best product offerings that match and excel the country’s evolving needs and demands. Through our Power of 6 philosophy, we will continue to offer first-in-the-industry products and solutions and further strengthen our position in the cargo and Construck segments.”

To enhance its customers’ experience and mitigate risks in the current challenging times, DMICDC Logistic Data Services (DLDS) has revamped Logistics Data Bank (LDB) portal. The redesigned LDB portal brings in a well-defined layout and navigation and delivers a visually pleasing platform to its customers. The portal now provides detailed voyage tracking of EXIM containers with end-to-end tracking map view. Earlier the information was provided only for next destination but now detailed information can be accessed about container port of loading and unloading. International location tracking plays a huge part in planning supply chain, and now imported containers can be tracked from the port of loading. Users can do multiple container tracking and group container tracking through a grid console to enable user-friendly engagement. “We did a lot of brainstorming to see how we could help shape the portal and information to better suit those who need it the most. LDB users can now see dwell time of containers at Ports, CFSs, ICDs on a real-time basis. We have also added the feature of gate cut off and expected vessel departure information to enable our customers to plan their daily operations efficiently,” said Surajit Sarkar, COO, DLDS. Speaking about the project update Mr. Ichiro Oshima, CEO DLDS said, “The new portal is designed to empower our customers to mitigate risks in the current challenging times. The interactive map with DPE/DPD and next delivery information will make it easier for users to plan and monitor their operations.”

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) recorded 26.33 per cent decline in consolidated profit to Rs 757.83 crore for April to June quarter due to COVID-19-induced lockdowns. The company had registered a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,028.69 crore in the corresponding period a year earlier. Despite the fall in cargo volumes, Mundra port became the largest container handling port in India by handling 0.97 million TEUs in Q1 FY21, surpassing JNPT volume of 0.85 million. Lockdown measures to tame the spread of COVID-19 resulted in lower import and export, impacting cargo throughput in first quarter of FY21. Its total income declined to Rs 2,749.46 crore for the first quarter, as against Rs 3,216.92 crore in the year-ago period. The company’s total expenses during the quarter under review rose to Rs 1,805.24 crore as compared to Rs 1,796.34 crore in the year-ago period. “In the first quarter of FY21, we were able to perform operationally at par with pre-COVID levels. During this period, we relooked at fundamentals of port operations and realigned costs, thus maintaining Port EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margin of 70 per cent,” says, Karan Adani, Chief Executive Officer and Whole Time Director, APSEZ. The company said there has been a steady increase in cargo throughput across the ports from July 2020. During July 2020, APSEZ handled cargo volume of 18.30 MMT, a growth of 6 per cent on year-on-year basis and 31 per cent over June 2020. “This trend gives us confidence that worst is behind us and going forward cargo volume in FY21 is expected to stabilise. Shift from road to rail and increase in services enabled Adani Logistics to achieve …

With an aim to transport millions of tonnes of cargo in a cost-effective manner, the Andhra Pradesh government has requested the Railways to extend its dedicated freight corridor to ports in the state. Mentioning how significant the freight-only corridors could become for goods transport, NP Ramakrishna Reddy, CEO, Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board wrote to the Dedicated Freight Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), requesting its support in the state’s upcoming port development projects. He said the DFC connectivity will act as a catalyst for the overall development of the ports and ensure effective and pollution-free transportation of the cargo, besides being cost-effective. “For this purpose, MoU may be entered into to ensure better coordinated efforts,” he said in the letter, dated August 10. The DFCCIL is presently working on two corridors; Western Corridor and the Eastern Corridor. Four other corridors are proposed. In his letter, Reddy told the DFCCIL that handling of cargoes at all the non-major ports, already developed or under development, in the state is to be done either by road or rail. He said the existing ports have rail links, but DFC connectivity will catalyse the overall development of the ports.

The Indian Railways has announced a discount of five per cent in the freight rates to the Container Train Operators (CTOs) to attract more containers to the rail mode. The discount will be valid till April 30 next year. Indian Railways has taken this step to get more freight at a time when the country is facing lower demand throughout the pandemic. The move, however, does not satiate the private container train operators (CTOs), who had wanted to waive off of entire haulage charges on movement of empty containers. The Association of Container Train Operators (ACTO) had sought continuation of waiving off-of haulage charges for moving empty boxes. This discount also aims to lower the logistics cost.

In order to ensure fast transportation of agricultural produce across the country, Indian Railways has launched Kisan Rail service for transportation of perishable goods with refrigerated coaches. The train will run between Deolali in Maharashtra to Danapur in Bihar covering the journey of 1,519 kilometres in 32 hours. It is expected to reduce transportation costs by Rs 1000 per tonne compared with roadways and reduce travel time by around 15 hours. Narendra Singh Tomar, Agriculture Minister, says, “Kisan Rail would help the farmer get his due for his produce. Kisan Rail and Kisan Udan were announced to ensure farmers are able to avail robust transport facilities. During lockdown, Railways ran 4610 trains and as a result, there was no shortage of food supply.” The train will halt at Nasik Road, Manmad, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Itarsi, Jabalpur, Satna, Katni, Manikpur, Prayagraj Chheoki, Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Nagar and Buxar. The train, which will run on a weekly basis, is expected to build a national cold supply chain for perishable items like fish, meat and milk.

Given the prevailing circumstances and its near impact on the industry metrics, ICRA (formaly known as Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India) has revised the outlook on the logistics sector from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’. With intermittent lockdowns still in place in several pockets across nation and muted recovery anticipated in the industrial activity, the logistic sector including warehousing sector is likely to witness sharp demand contraction in the near-term. Consequently, in FY2021, ICRA expects a contraction of 18-20 per cent Y-o-Y in aggregate revenues of its sample of logistics companies. Additionally, the near-term profitability metrics are anticipated to remain under pressure given the subdued fleet utilisation levels in light of muted freight availability, and continued high fixed costs such as driver salaries, truck EMIs and maintenance costs. Accordingly, the outlook on the sector has been revised to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’. The rapid rise of Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictive measures implemented by the central and state governments to contain the disease has adversely impacted the prospects of the Indian logistics sector, especially the road freight transportation movement. The implementation of the 40-day nationwide lockdown aggravated the prevailing softness in the Indian economic activity, resulting in a decline in freight availability during Q4 FY2020, which further contracted sharply in Q1 FY2020.