Wagon shortage hits salt units

The salt industry of Kutch district, which contributes close to 50 per cent of the country's salt production, has demanded more railway wagons to transport salt to other parts of the country as the present number of rail wagons being provided for salt are insufficient.

The Gandhidham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has taken up the matter, said the inability of Western Railway to provide wagons to the salt industry has hit the sector hard, with huge stocks of salt getting piled up in the district.

Industry sources said while the industry needs at least two or three wagons per day, the Railways has not been providing more than seven or eight rail wagons per week.

Salt traders in Gandhidham said this has resulted in a shortage of supply of salt to north eastern states of the country and if the Railways does not take measures to provide more wagons to Gandhidham and Chirai, there be a short supply of salt in parts of the country and the industry here will be hit hard.

Parasmal Nahata, secretary of the Gandhidham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who also runs a salt business in Gandhidham, said as of today, the stocks of salt that have piled up in Gandhidham will be of more than 150 rail wagons.

"We require around 20 wagons to load salt every week, but the railways is not providing more than seven or eight wagons a week," he said.

Nahata added that while on one hand, stocks of foodgrains, soya and other commodities are being brought to Kandla for exporting on a regular basis through trains, the rakes are being returned empty by the Railways.

"The Railways' decision to run empty rakes from Gandhidham, ignoring the huge wagon demand that exists in the salt industry, does not seem logical and is against all commercial principles of the Indian Railways. This causes a huge revenue loss to the country as well," said Mahesh Tirthani, honorary secretary of the Gandhidham Chamber.

Vikas Patel, a leading salt manufacturer of Gandhidham, said according to Railway rules, empty wagons cannot be taken from Kutch, but the Railways has been doing this for the past few months now. "To make matters worse, the government has come out with a rule that a truck cannot carry more than nine tonnes of salt, thus making road transport unaffordable," he said.

Patel said the unavailability of three or four rakes for salt per day has caused the stock pile-up and this is affecting the industry.

There are several salt manufacturers in Kutch, apart from those in Bhavnagar, Khadavad, Maliya and other areas.