The Hindu Business Line : ECR's Q1 freight earnings up at Rs 1,126.16 cr

IN the first four months of the current fiscal (April-July 2005-06), the East Coast Railway (ECR) has achieved originating freight earnings of Rs 1,126.16 crore compared to Rs 932.14 crore in the same period of last fiscal.

The earnings from originating passenger traffic during the period amounted to Rs 124.28 crore (Rs 111.09 crore).

The ECR sources attributed the jump in freight earnings to a rise in freight throughput during the period at 24.51 mt (21.89 mt), with coal and iron ore being the main items, together accounting for nearly 80 per cent of the total traffic. The target for the period, however, was set at 25.01 mt. Yet, the sources foresee no problem in achieving the targeted freight throughput of 77 mt for the year ending March 2006 (as compared 70.46 mt in 2004-05). This is because freight movement generally picks up in the second half of the fiscal.

Precisely for the same reason, the originating freight earnings target of Rs 3,384 crore set for 2005-06 (Rs 3,010 crore in 2004-05) will be achieved without difficulty. The target for earnings from the originating passenger traffic has been set at Rs 373 crore (Rs 300 crore) for the current fiscal.

Sources concede that the rake movement of coal from Talcher mines of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd has been hit due to a variety of reasons. The average daily loading at Talcher has dropped from 22/23 rakes to around 15/16 rakes. However, transportation of the non-coking coal, being imported for the first time through Paradip and Visakhapatnam ports, has to some extent covered the shortfall in domestic coal movement.

Non-coking coal is being imported to meet the requirement of powerhouses (Kanhia and Simadri plants of National Thermal Power Corporation) as well as other industries (e.g., Angul plant of National Aluminium Company).

In the current year, total import, is estimated to be more than two million tonnes and the indication is that it will steadily rise in the coming years. "Apart from this, there is no other redistribution of cargo," the sources added.

ECR has its headquarter in Bhubaneswar and has three divisions at Khurda Road, Visakhapatnam and Sambalpur.

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ECR's Q1 freight earnings up at Rs 1,126.16 cr