The Hindu Business Line : Wagon investment scheme facilitates assured supply of rakes to customers

The essence of the scheme is that it focuses on assured supply of guaranteed number of rakes every month to a customer based on the number of rakes procured by him. Also freight concessions will be allowed to him. The wagons under the scheme can be procured by individuals, corporate bodies or association or groups of companies such as integrated steel plants of SAIL or a group of cement companies in a cluster.

The customers who do not have own sidings can also participate in the scheme. The scheme also provides for supply of bonus rakes whose number will increase for those customers opting for Engine-On-Load system.

As for the mode of procurement, the customers can procure the wagons directly from the builders approved by the Railway Ministry subject to current Indian Railways Standard design and specifications and inspection by the nominated agency of the Railways namely RDSO. All critical components will be procured from RDSO approved sources and to current IRS specifications.

The wagons can also be procured through wagon builder in a foreign country subject to Indian Railways Standard designs and specifications and subject to inspection by the nominated agency of the Railways. The foreign exchange or its equivalent, if any, for imported components would be provided for customers participating in the scheme.

The customer can procure any number of wagons in a unit of rake loads without any ceiling subject to a minimum of one rake and four per cent additional wagons as maintenance spare. Procurement of wagons in piecemeal shall not be permitted.

To begin with, two types of wagons, namely, BCN (covered) wagons and open (Box N) wagons can be procured under the scheme. In both the categories, 10 per cent freight rebate will be admissible - 15 years for covered wagons and 10 years for the open type. The customers will be eligible for guaranteed supply of four rakes a month for covered wagons and six rakes a month for open wagons. In addition, a guaranteed supply of two bonus rakes will be made available without freight concession or penalty to those opting for the Engine-On-Load scheme.

The Wagon Investment Scheme is an improvement over the earlier Own Your Wagon (OYW) scheme in several ways. Thus, unlike OYW scheme which flopped, no lease charges shall be payable under the present scheme. Second, any escalation in rates and tariffs is taken care of as the rebate is in percentage. Third, unlike OYW scheme, it is not linked to PLR and therefore much simpler and more transparent.

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Wagon investment scheme facilitates assured supply of rakes to customers