The Hindu Business Line : Concor proposal to move cars by rail

AS part of its programme to broaden its area of operation, Container Corporation of India (Concor) is planning to make a foray into transportation of cars in railway coaches.

Informed sources told Business Line that Concor was in talks with a clutch of car manufacturers, including Maruti, Hyundai and Chevrolet, which have shown considerable interest in the proposal. "In fact, Concor is willing to invite car manufacturers to pick up a stake in the project," according to the sources.

Understandably, the automobile companies prefer to transport cars in railway coaches, as the vehicles that are moved by road are often vulnerable to damages due to bad road conditions on certain stretches of the national highway. A common complaint is that the shock absorbers of the vehicles that are moved on road trailers and trucks suffer damages by the time they reach their destination, as they are "badly shaken in transit". Further, rail transportation would enable the companies to make significant savings in freight costs and shorten the delivery schedules.

Concor sees a good commercial opportunity in moving cars in specially designed double-decker railway coaches. The company plans to build a prototype of a double-decker railway coach in association with some car manufacturers.

Concor has already initiated a diversification of its business by entering into port operations — the company is in the race for the Rs 900-crore third container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru port as part of a consortium led by Maersk. In fact, it was keen on picking up a stake in the Visakhapatnam container terminal, which is being operated by a consortium led by United Liner Agency, a part of the J.M. Baxi group. But somehow the proposal did not materialise, sources said.

Another area that Concor plans to enter is refrigerated transportation of fruits. Sources said the company plans to set up a joint venture for this project, which will have two stages of operation. While the first stage involves collection of the fruits from the farms, the second envisages transportation of the products to the Controlled Atmospheric Stores (CAS). With the CAS technology, the shelf life of the fruits can be increased, according to the sources.

The sources said Concor plans to set up a network of CASs in a phased manner. In the first phase, such stores are being planned for Delhi and Mumbai and the second phase is likely to see setting up of a network of 14 stores. Many companies have shown interest in picking up a stake in the proposed joint venture, but Concor is keen that its partner should not be an investor alone but should be able to add value to the venture.

Concor's programme to broaden its area of operation is part of its overall plan to emerge as a total logistic solution provider, leveraging its existing infrastructure.

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