The Hindu Business Line : Not many takers for rail box operations this year

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New Delhi Feb. 2 Though several companies had evinced interest in the Railways container operations segment, only two companies may enter the segment this year — Kribhco and Gammon India.

On January 31, which was the last date for applying for container operating licences, Kribhco had put in Rs 50 crore for an all-India rail operations licence, while Gammon India has requested for some time to put in its licence amount of Rs 50 crore, said official sources.

Container Operations

The Railways had earlier stated that it would invite applications from players wanting to enter the segment for one month every year.

This year, however, the window has been kept open for two months (December and January).

With 14 companies, that had acquired licences last year, already in the pipeline to start container operations, the number of participants was expected to be low this year, point out industry watchers.

This was more so in the context of the Railways having limited line capacity as of now. "For example, the Delhi-Mumbai sector, which is the most attractive export-import container segment, already has ten players vying for using the limited line capacity of the Railways," said a company eyeing the segment.

Registration Fee

So, companies would rather wait for some time and let the Railways create the line capacity before taking the plunge. Limited line capacity would impact the speed of trains operating in the segment.

In the rail container operations segment, in terms of licence fee, the rail routes are grouped into two categories — Rs 50 crore and Rs 10 crore.

The Rs 50 crore fee is for trains between JNPT/Mumbai port and the National Capital Region, apart from operating on all other routes.

The Railways had defined three other categories of routes and operating in each of these categories includes a registration fee of Rs 10 crore.

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