Railways' freight revenue up 19% in Aug, Rs 66,658 cr earning during FY23

Coal freight revenue rose 42 per cent despite rains, floods during August

Fuelled by increased coal supply to meet record power demand, Indian Railways’ freight earning touched Rs 12,926 crore in August. The national transporter carried 119 million tonnes (mt) of goods and raw materials during the last month, even as coal-producing states and railway infrastructure suffered due to floods and heavy rains.

With this, the national transporter has earned Rs 66,658 crore during this fiscal year from freight operations.

The freight loading of the Railways in August increased by 8 per cent over the last year, and revenue increased by 18.9 per cent, according to official documents accessed by Business Standard.

Coal loading registered an annual increase of 20 per cent during August as Railways carried 58 mt of coal during the month. Long-distance transportation alone helped the coal freight revenue to rise by a whopping 42 per cent during August, and almost 39 per cent for the financial year, till date.

Sources said that transportation of both imported and coastally shipped coal has also contributed to freight revenues. While freight revenue has increased over last year, volumes are still falling short of railways’ ambitious target of 1700 mt of freight loading during this fiscal.

“There is a need to achieve close to 150 mt in the coming months to meet the target,” an official said.

Meanwhile, continuing its downward trajectory, the second largest commodity of the railways’ freight basket – iron ore – saw transportation of 12.4 mt, falling by 7 per cent. Officials in the know said that low industrial production could be the factor behind the low demand for freight.

Transportation of food grains saw a 20 per cent drop in August, over the preceding month. So far during this fiscal, 30 mt of food grains have been ferried, which is 12 per cent higher than last year.

The railways’ plan to diversify its freight basket continues to be slow but maintained a steady growth rate of 7.6 per cent growth in the miscellaneous goods category. This paper previously reported, general goods such as automobiles are being planned to be ferried increasingly through dedicated freight corridors to generate higher corporate interest. In 2022-23, miscellaneous goods’ loading has increased 13 per cent, with earnings from these goods rising by 17 per cent.

Commodity	August Freight Loading (mt)	Earning (in crores)	Change in Earning (%)
Coal	57.52	6623	42.3
Iron Ore	12.43	935	-7.02
Steel	5.77	870	9.02
Cement	6.28	518	4.3
Food Grains	5.49	824	-20.81
Container	6.61	645	15
Miscellaneous	9.64	891	10.78
Fertilizer	4.88	554	15.67