Rail Budget: Wagon makers welcome plans

The Railway Budget for 2008-09 has set a target of procuring 20,000 wagons in the next fiscal with an incremental loading target of 60 million tonne consecutively for the fourth year.

Decongestion of the rail network and improving freight movement speed are critical to maximise returns on new wagons and achieve additional freight targets, said Pawan Ruia, chairman, Jessop & Co.

The strategy of increasing payload and reducing the tare weight of wagons will be the foundation for the successful implementation of the plans presented in the budget, Ruia added.

Titagarh Wagons, another major wagon maker, was elated with the enhanced demand for wagons, and said adoption of new technology would be boosted by the budget.

Titagrh recently signed a joint venture agreement with US-based Freight Car Inc for high-technology wagons, said Umesh Choudhary, director, Titagarh Wagons.

Hemant Kanoria, vice-chairman and managing director, SREI Infrastructure Finance, felt the railway budget was populist but retained some focus on improvement of infrastructure. The new policy on wagon leasing gave an expanded role to the private sector under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode, Kanoria added.