Railways misses the train on high-value freight

E-commerce, automobiles, FMCG potential growth drivers

- MANU KAUSHIK

THE INDIAN RAILWAYS' over-dependence on bulk commodities such as coal, iron ore, and cement is hurting its growth potential and exposing it to increasing competition from other modes of freight transport, a PwC-FICCI report said.

Unreliable services, inflexible routes, and poor timeliness are hampering the Railways' ability to capture a larger share of the "high-value" non-bulk commodities market, the report noted.