‘Hungry for Cargo’ railways mission to improve it’s freight share

Railways has started “Mission Hungry for Cargo” targeting 45 per cent modal share in freight transportation from the current 27 per cent. In the past 50 years, a considerable portion of total traffic was taken away by road transport despite the Railways being the most efficient means of inland bulk transport. Market share of Indian Railways in goods transportation has reduced to only 27 per cent.
The national transporter is left with coal, cement and iron ore as only a few major commodities where railways commands bulk market share. However, even for this bulk traffic, Indian Railways is now facing the threat of high capacity road trailers and coastal shipping. Cement from Gujarat to south India, transportation of coal to power plants in Tamil Nadu has started from Paradip port. Iron and steel plants have moved from rail to road due to smaller batches and timing of supply offered by road.
In order to reverse the trend, the Railways has undertaken concerted efforts introducing new initiatives targeting 45 per cent modal share of railways in freight transportation from the current 27 per cent.