Indian Railways 2.0 Reclaiming pole position in freight transport January 2021 Analytical contacts CRISIL FICCI Jagannarayan Padmanabhan Ms Neerja Singh Director and Practice Leader - Transport Senior Director – Infrastructure (Transport and Urban) CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory (Roads and Highways, Ports and Shipping, Railways, Tel: (D) +91 22 3342 1874 | (M) +91 9930 335 832 Urban Development, Real Estate and Smart Cities) Email: [email protected] Tel: +91 11 2348 7326 Email: [email protected] Golesh Gupta Ms Komal Sharma, Manager - Transport Deputy Director – Infrastructure CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory Tel: +91 11 2348 7519 Tel: (D) +91 124 6722361 | (M) +91 8454 920 822 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Shashank Dhingra Ms Nikika Goyal Senior Consultant - Transport Research Associate – Transport Infrastructure CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory Tel: +91 11 2348 7414 Tel: (D) +91 22 3342 1960 | (M) +91 9972370133 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Contents Message from the Minister ................................................................................................................ 5 Foreword from FICCI .......................................................................................................................... 6 Foreword from CRISIL ........................................................................................................................ 7 Executive summary ........................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Overview of freight transport and logistics in India .......................................................................... 16 IR’s freight segment ......................................................................................................................... 19 IR’s initiatives for freight business .................................................................................................. 33 PPP and private investments in the rail freight sector ..................................................................... 37 Recommendations and the way forward .......................................................................................... 44 3 This page is intentionally left blank 4 Message from the Minister 5 Foreword from FICCI Mr BVN Rao Chairman, FICCI Committee on Transport Infrastructure and Business Chairman (Transportation & Urban Infra), GMR Group I am happy to share with you the FICCI-CRISIL white With this background, FICCI – CRISIL has prepared a paper on “Indian Railways 2.0: Re-claiming Pole comprehensive background paper on “Indi an Position in Freight Transport” to be released at the Railways 2.0: Re-claiming Pole Position in Freight Future of Rail Transport – 3rd edition of SMART Transport”. The objective of this report is to study Railways Conclave organized by Federation of Indian the rail freight transport in India. It analyses the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. initiatives being undertaken and examines key issues and challenges in the freight segment. The Indian Railways is a symbol of a nation on the move. It is in a dynamic phase of growth with new I hope you will find this report useful. We welcome initiatives offering world-class services in both your suggestions and feedback. freight and passenger transportation. The recently launched National Rail Plan builds emphasis on enhancement of infrastructural capacity along with strategies to chalk out a well-laid plan to increase railways market share in freight transportation from current 28% to 44% by the year 2051. 6 Foreword from CRISIL Jagannarayan Padmanabhan Director and Practice Leader - Transport CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory A modern and cost-efficient transport and logistics the past few years to increase rail’s share in freight infrastructure network is the crucial cog on which transportation modal mix. India’s vaunted ambition of becoming a global Notably, the capital outlay for railways has manufacturing destination rests. increased substantially from Rs 1,099 billion in fiscal And it is impossible to imagine such a network 2017 to Rs 1,608 billion in fiscal 2021 and is without the country’s transportation behemoth – expected to remain elevated in coming years. Indian Railways (IR), which carries ~8.4 billion of Specific measures have also helped the IR tackle passengers and 1.2 billion tonne of freight annually challenges, especially the one heaped by the – living up to its moniker ‘lifeline of the nation’. ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, the country’s logistics cost, estimated at In this report, we have undertaken a comprehensive ~14% of the gross domestic product (GDP), is study of the Indian rail freight segment, the key significantly higher than other comparable challenges and initiatives, and opportunities for the economies, acting as a barrier for competitiveness of private sector, and recommended steps that can domestic products. ensure Indian Railways is able to achieve its target of 44% share in freight transport by fiscal 2051. One of the major reasons for the high logistics cost is the skewed freight transport modal mix in the Our key recommendations include enhancing rail country, which is dominated by costly road modal share for existing cargo and capturing new transport. If the country is to become a global cargo categories; leveraging DFCs; establishing an manufacturing destination, it is imperative that independent regulator and enabling private logistics costs decrease substantially. investments in rolling stock. The good part is, Indian Railways is cognisant of this I am sure you will find the report informative. requirement, and has taken multiple initiatives over 7 Executive summary Overview of rail freight in India With freight transport being eclipsed by costly modes, i.e. roads, the higher logistics cost for the A robust transportation and logistics infrastructure economy can be partly attributed to the sub-optimal is crucial for economic development. To be sure, a share of rail, given that transportation alone modern, cost-efficient transportation infrastructure accounts for ~61% of the cost incurred in the not only ensures an economy’s competitiveness, but logistics value chain in India. also provides the springboard for high industrial The National Transport Policy Development growth. Committee, 2014 took cognisance of this aspect and In India, railways has been the proverbial ‘lifeline’, estimated that the modal share mix for rail and road given that Indian Railways (IR) carries ~1.2 billion needs to shift to 50:50 by fiscal 2032. tonne of freight and ~8.4 billion passengers, Realising the importance of aggregate level annually. planning, the Ministry of Railways has formulated a However, over time, the railways has lost Draft National Rail Plan, outlining strategies to considerable ground to other transportation modes, achieve a freight modal share of ~44% by fiscal 2051 especially roads. Notably, within the freight from the 32% in fiscal 2019. segment, the share of railways was ~32% in fiscal The ministry has introduced several initiatives in 1 2019 vis-à-vis ~52% in fiscal 2008 (considering recent years to tilt the scale, taking note that if the traffic with over 300 km of lead distance). country is to become a global manufacturing This shrinkage in the railway’s share can be destination, it will require a cost-efficient and attributed largely to progression of road modern transport infrastructure. infrastructure and road transport industry, which One of these initiatives is the Dedicated Freight gave a boost to road transportation, as well as Corridors (DFCs). The project, conceived last decade, changes in consumer behaviour and industrial and has been fast-tracked and the rail transport sector consumption patterns, which have increased the is expected to undergo a paradigm shift once it is need for faster transit, service reliability and commissioned. Also being pursued are capacity predictability. The situation has been further augmentation, modernisation, operational changes, aggravated by capacity constraints in the railways, and organisational reforms. along with non-flexible policies, high tariff rates, and limited commercial and marketing initiatives, among The National Rail Plan also reiterates the need of others. diversifying the railway’s freight mix in order to achieve the target. The deterioration in the share of rail in the freight modal mix is worrisome for not only the IR, but also Overview of IR’s freight segment for the economy. The IR’s freight basket has been dependent on select Markedly, logistics cost in India, at ~14% of gross commodities, such as cement, coal, fertilisers, food domestic product (GDP), is significantly higher than grains, iron ore, and steel, which constitute over 75% comparable economies, such as North America (8%) of the total rail freight volume. Notably, coal alone and Europe (9-10%). 1 Draft National Rail Plan, December 2020 8 accounts for ~50% of the freight volume and containers and iron ore, though, rose a healthy ~7% revenue. on-year each, followed by raw material for steel plants, pig iron, and finished steel, which expanded The dependence on select commodities for freight ~6% on-year, each. traffic outlines the inherent risk from demand shocks from end-users of these commodities.