Indian Railways Production Units To Get Corporatised; This PSU To Prepare Report

The Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES), a public-sector undertaking (PSU) of the Railway Ministry will be preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed corporatization of Indian Railways' production units. The plan of corporatization will be discussed with the unions in the period of April-June next year. The unions of Indian Railways had opposed the decision of the Railway Ministry to turn the production units into corporate entities, raising worries about job losses. Recently, Railway Board Chairman and CEO Vinod Kumar Yadav said that once the project report by the Rail PSU is ready, the board will discuss with the unions to see if it can be taken forward, and ensuring that the interests of the Indian Railways staff are taken care off.

Indian Railways plans to corporatize the production units as it has claimed that it will lead to greater efficiency. The consultation period will be of two-three months between April-June next year, according to the Chairman of the Railway Board. The Indian Railways production units include the following:

• Integral Coach Factory
• Chittaranjan Locomotive Works
• Diesel Locomotive Works
• Wheel and Axle Plant
• Diesel Modernization Works
• Rail Wheel Plant
• Modern Coach Factory
• Rail Coach Factory

According to the officials of the Railway Ministry, new Vande Bharat train sets will be manufactured at Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala as well as at the Modern Coach Factory in Raebareli. 

Meanwhile, Indian Railways freight loading was 109.68 million tonnes, in November 2020, which is 9 per cent higher as compared to last year's freight loading for the same period, i.e., at 100.96 million tonnes. The 109.68 million tonnes of loading included 13.77 million tonnes of iron ore, 48.48 million tonnes of coal, 5.1 million tonnes of foodgrains, 6.62 million tonnes of cement (excluding clinker), and 5.41 million tonnes of fertilizers last month. The average wagon loading per day was 58,726 which is 4.6 per cent higher than in October.