Railways should diversify freight portfolio: Ficci-Crisil White paper

The Indian Railways will have to diversify its freight portfolio to meet the goals of having a larger share of the total goods movement in the country. According to a joint report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Solutions (CRISIL), the Indian Railways should focus on capturing new freight opportunities in the transport of cement, steel and automobiles, among others.

Another key proposal is to allow private players to run trains on the dedicated freight corridors. As per the institutional arrangement envisaged for operations of DFCs, IR will be the sole