| Recently, the railway ministry has permitted PRCL to transport containers on 10 routes from Pipavav port in Gujarat to all dry ports, including inland container depots (ICDs), breaking Concor monopoly for the first time. |
| "There has been a long standing demand by the trade for allowing private participation in container movement over rail, especially with Concor struggling to meet the surge in demand for container movement to and from Indian ports in recent times. We have allowed the PRCL and CWC to transport containers by rail," M Z Ansari, general manager, Western Railway, told Business Standard on Monday. |
| According to industry sources, PRCL and CWC entry into this segment is a prelude to the opening up of the sector to private operators, as several private and government organisations have already indicated their willingness to enter this sector. |
| Even the port and shipping industry has been seeking private participation in container movement over rail from a long time. |
| "With India's container traffic swelling in recent years, the railways decided to allow PRCL and CWC in the area. Moreover, Concor failed to keep up with the pace of increased container traffic," said K C Jena, chief operations manager, Western Railway. |
| Gujarat, with a number of major and minor ports, has emerged as the leader in handling of cargo movement in the country. In recent years, it has emerged as the focal point of multimodal activity, a vital entry and exit point to and from India. |
| "Gujarat is an ideal cargo consolidating hub for the important trade generating northern and western hinterland of the country, especially given the numerous ports that dot its coastline, its productive cargo aggregation centres. Ahmedabad ICD is the second largest one in the country and measures need to be taken to enhance the domestic container traffic through continued improvement in railway services," said Chinubhai Shah, president, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI). |
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