The Hindu Business Line : `Proposed Jamalpur wagon unit a retrograde step'

THE President and CEO of Texmaco Ltd, a notable railway wagon manufacturer in the private sector, Mr Ramesh Maheshwari, reacting to the Railway Budget, said here on Tuesday that the proposed wagon production at Jamalpur Workshop of the Railways was a retrograde step. What is needed is better planning and higher offtake by Railways from existing units, which are carrying substantial idle capacity.

He said the late placement of orders and delayed supply of matching free supply inputs by the Railways take a major toll of industry's production. He, however, welcomed the proposal to set up a new wheel manufacturing unit at Chapra, Bihar, considering the critical shortage of wheel-sets, which are currently produced by the Rail Wheel Factory at Bangalore and Durgapur.

According to Mr Maheshwari, the award of orders by the Railways has also left a lot to be desired. While the public sector units have been failing in delivering the wagons on order with them, they have still been loaded on political considerations at the cost of idle capacity in private sector units. He said, in 2003-04, the PSU units delivered only 4,717 wagons against a total order on them for 13,882 wagons.

Mr Biswadip Gupta, President of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said overall, the rebate of 10 per cent for movement of heavy machinery, introduction of the "engine-on-load" system and an electronic payment gateway for speedy transfer of funds from freight customers were commendable.

The fact that wagon units in the country would be encouraged to better utilise available in-house facilities and that no increase in passenger fares and freight rates have been proposed are encouraging developments not only for the industry but also for the common man, he pointed out. Ensuring rapid transit of perishable commodities to consuming centres and introduction of round-the-clock loading, unloading facilities are praiseworthy measures, he added.

Mr Anup Singh, President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, said that modernisation of wagons and railway infrastructure had to be enhanced. He felt the premium facilities for rail passengers could be offered at higher rates to bring in more corporate travel on railways, just as in developed nations.

Seeking greater priority for passenger safety and amenities, he pointed out that the Railways was the country's largest infrastructure under a single entity, and "any productivity gains achieved in the railways would have a dramatic impact on the Indian economy. This, he added, would call for a manifold increase in investments in railways, and "investments of such magnitude were not very apparent in this Budget."

According to the ICC President, gradually, the cross subsidy on freight needs to be phased out to move towards actual user charges, so that costs of cargo movement could be brought down over the years with more operational efficiency and modernisation.

Welcoming the introduction of "village on wheels", he said the Rail Budget initiative to facilitate Exim traffic, and the move to offer freight rebate on movement of heavy machinery were industry-friendly measures.

Appreciating the Railway Minister's compulsions under the Common Minimum Programme of the UDA Government, Mr K.B. Agarwala, President of the Merchants Chamber of Commerce, felt the Minister could have taken some innovative steps to earn more revenue through commercial use of surplus railway land and air-space (above stations), commercial publicity on trains and at railway premises and financing measures like JVs and SPVs with private participation.

Mr P.K. Poddar, Vice-President of the Bharat Chamber of Commerce, said that the Budget lacked the necessary emphasis on upgradation of technology and improvement of services.

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