The Hindu Business Line : Railways posts 11 pc growth in revenue from coal freight

THE Indian Railways has registered an 11.39-per cent growth in revenues from coal transportation for April 2004-February 2005, compared to the same period last year, with freight earnings by transportation of coal touching Rs 11,794 crore.

In terms of tonnage, the Railways transported 244.55 million tonnes (mt) of coal - a 16.93-mt or 7.4-per cent growth over 227.62 mt in 2003-04.

Further, for moving each mt of coal during the period this fiscal, the Railways received Rs 48.23 crore, which is up 3.68 per cent over the last financial year.

Coal for thermal powerhouses contributed the maximum revenues at Rs 9,176.07 crore for the period, posting a 15.23-per cent growth compared to last year. Out of the total 244.55 mt of coal transported, 177 mt was transported to thermal powerhouses during the period ended February in the 2004-05 fiscal.

Earnings from coal transportation accounted for 42.5 per cent of the Railways' total freight earnings of Rs 27,723.79 crore for the 11-month period. During the same period in 2003-04, coal transportation contributed 42.42 per cent of the Railways' total freight earnings of Rs 24,955.83 crore.

The Railways also garnered Rs 2,855.78 crore by transporting 41.72 mt of foodgrains for the period ending February 2005 this fiscal.

On a yearly basis, revenues from food grains show a negative growth of about 2.83 per cent, though the Railways carried more foodgrains during the period (41.72 mt this year compared to 41.21 mt last year). This can be attributed to a 4.01-per cent reduction in earnings for carrying every million tonne of foodgrains.

During April 04-February 05, the Railways realised Rs 68.45 crore for transporting 1 mt of foodgrains, whereas it earned Rs 71.31 crore during the same period last fiscal.

Earnings from movement of petroleum oil and lubricant products stood at Rs 2,499.39 crore, which is 12.04 per cent higher than last year's Rs 2,230.71 crore. The reason for this is a 12.63-per cent increase in earnings per mt - the Railways earned Rs 86.33 crore for every mt transported during the period, compared to Rs 76.66 crore the previous year.

In terms of quantity of petroleum products tonnage, the Railways registered a 0.15 mt decline on a yearly basis by carrying 28.95 mt.

Transporting cement has earned the Railways Rs 2,231.96 crore, which is 12.85 per cent higher than what it earned last year. This is partly due to higher earnings of Rs 45.75 crore (a growth 2.72 per cent compared to last year) for moving every mt of cement. Another reason is the increase in volume of cement transportation - with the Railways moving 48.79 mt of cement, which is 4.38 mt higher than 44.41 mt moved last year during the 11-month period.

The Railways earned Rs 1,367.96 crore by moving iron and steel to steel plants, which is 7.75 per cent higher than the earnings in the previous fiscal.

While earnings attributable to movement of every million tonne has increased by 4.76 per cent to touch Rs 102.62 crore, there is also a marginal increase of 0.37 mt over last year with 13.33 mt of iron and steel carried to the plants.

Similarly, moving raw material to steel plants earned the Railways Rs 1,140.29 crore, which is 9.68 per cent higher than the revenues last year.

Transporting iron for export purposes have added Rs 1,325.61 crore to the Railways kitty for April 04-February 05 - a 54.64-per cent growth over Rs 857.23 crore during the same period last fiscal.

While earnings from moving 1 mt of iron for exports has gone up by 10.76 per cent to touch Rs 40.32 crore, there has been a rise in tonnage with the Railways transporting 32.88 mt of iron for exports.

This is nearly 40 per cent higher than the 23.55 mt earned last year.

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