Railways eyes 1,700 mn tonnes freight in FY23, 15% beyond Budget estimates

Sharp uptick in freight demand seen mainly from core basket of commodities. Railways to acquire 90,000 wagons over the next three years, will push for track development with respect to DFCs

On the back of robust freight loading numbers in the 2021-22 fiscal, Indian Railways is internally revising its freight target for 2022-23 to 1,700 million tonne (mt), which is over 15 per cent higher than the ministry of railways’ Budget estimates presented in February.

“The Budget estimated freight loading for the next fiscal at 1,475 mt, which was a conservative estimate. Our freight loading for this year was 1,418 mt, where we also achieved the highest-ever annual growth at 15 per cent. Naturally, we have to go over and above the Budget if we want to fulfil our objectives under