The Hindu Business Line : Concor ties up with NYK for auto carrier project

CONTAINER Corporation of India (Concor) has tied up with Japanese shipping giant NYK and is working on a detailed business plan for the end-to-end auto transportation solutions project.

The public sector unit has also increased its tariffs for transporting containers with effect from January 15 on select routes by up to 10 per cent.

The increase in tariffs follows a 15 per cent hike in haulage charges introduced by the Railways for Concor starting December 1, 2005. Concor pays haulage charges to the Railways for using its infrastructure such as track and signalling system. Total haulage charge is generally the largest expenditure component of Concor.

The Concor Managing Director, Mr Rakesh Mehrotra, told Business Line: "We have signed an MoU with NYK for the auto carrier project." But the Railway Ministry is yet to give its nod allocating lines/track to Concor for the project. "We are waiting for a formal reply from the Indian Railways that would allot us tracks for running rakes," he said, adding that the joint venture is a 50:50 partnership as on date but more partners could be brought in at a later stage if required.

The company aims to target the booming automobile market and offer services for transporting automobiles using containers on railway tracks. It has already designed special wagons for transporting vehicles and has acquired necessary clearance from the Lucknow-based Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO).

The exact time when the project would kick off depends on Railways' clearance. "After getting the go-ahead from the Railways, we would need about nine months to one year for acquiring rolling stock," said Mr Mehrotra. He declined to share the financial details of the project, saying it is still being worked upon.

On the tariffs, Mr Mehrotra said, "We absorbed a part of the increase in haulage charges and have passed on about 10 per cent of the increase to our customers for select routes. The increase is effective January 15."

On the wagon acquisition front, he said delivery of 1,600 wagons is in the pipeline, the cost of each wagon being about Rs 22 lakh. From the total, 1,325 wagons would be supplied by Railway workshops, while 275 would be supplied by private wagon companies. "We are also in the process of finalising orders for 900 more wagons," he said. At present, Concor has a stock of 6,000 wagons (111 rakes) and 1,357 low-speed wagons.

On the status of the Rs 70-crore cold chain project that the PSU was working on to service the agricultural sector, Mr Mehrotra said the contract is being finalised. We should be ready to offer services by the next apple season around July, he said.

About the expected competition to Concor with the opening up of the sector, Mr Mehrotra said, "Everything is in place. We are all geared up to face the competition." The PSU plans to pay up the Rs 50-crore registration amount for container services licence "within a month".

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