Big pvt firms eye wagons scheme

Jindals, Tata companies show interest in investing in wagons in exchange for rakes.

Big players have started taking an interest in the wagon investment scheme that was announced by the railways last year.

According to sources, the Jindals and some Tata companies have sent feelers to the railways that they may be interested in investing in the scheme wherein companies are assured a supply of rakes once they purchase and hand over the wagons. The wagons will become the property of the railways after 10 years.

According to experts in the leasing business, a paucity of rakes has also contributed to big players thinking of ensuring that they get a regular supply.

Several large groups, primarily in the power and steel sectors, have begun to show interest in the scheme.

"Initially, the big players were sceptical about the scheme because the agreement did seem a little one-sided, in favour of the railways. But once they saw the scheme in action and its benefits, I think, began to get interested," a leasing sector expert said.

According to estimates, the scheme which was introduced in the 2005-06 Budget, has attracted more than a 100 proposals so far.

Power sector players are said to be concerned about the delay in getting rakes, as coal "" which comprises 50 per cent of the railways' freight mix "" typically has to be transported over long distances to the plant.

The power sector players' grouse has often been that the rakes get diverted at the last minute, leaving them stranded for want of coal.

The wagon investment scheme is being seen as a sure-shot method of ensuring undisrupted supply of coal to the plants.