The Hindu Business Line : Container train players want level field

New entrants in container train operations, having approached the Railway Ministry seeking lower access charges for using the Railways’ goods terminals, have pointed out several other factors that favour Container Corporation of India (Concor) and deprives them of a “level playing field”.

To start with, they have demanded that the Railways provide them land on the same terms that it extends to Concor.

For terminals set up by Concor on Railway land, the former pays the latter a fee of Rs 250 per twenty-foot unit (TEU) container handled.

“Thus, if Concor handles less containers in a terminal in a year, it pays less to the Railways. And if it handles more containers, it pays more,” said an official of a private container operations firm, adding that, in this context, the Railways should extend its land to the entrants at the same charges.

“For places like the Tughlakabad container terminal in Delhi, where land costs rule at over Rs 30 crore per acre, the lease charges paid by Concor on the present terms are a small proportion of even 6 per cent of market value of the land,” said the official.

For land lease, the Railways usually charges six per cent of market value as lease charges. “While the Railways levies Rs 250 per TEU as charges on Concor for allowing it to use the land, it expects us to pay roughly Rs 2,500 per TEU for allowing us to use its goods sheds,” claimed sources.

Moreover, the Railways allows Concor to issue inland way bills to its customers booking traffic which are negotiable documents.

According to the official, the Railways should also do the same for the entrants. However, Concor pays its haulage charges to the Railways in advance, on a fortnightly basis.

The new container operators, meanwhile, get their containers weighed in the presence of the Railways’ goods clerk and then have to pay the required amount only by demand drafts.

The Railways, should try to play a fair regulator’s role, even if it owns a majority stake in Concor, point out company officials.

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Container train players want level field