India's Ahmedabad wants to send regular parcel train to Bangladesh
Divisional Railway Manager Deepak Kumar Jha said that the city-based Arvind Denim has been sending its clothes of Bangladesh for garment manufacture
The Ahmedabad division of India has requested the Indian Ministry of Railways to give permission for regular percel trains to Bangladesh.
According to The Times of India, the division has already sent proposal for approval.
Divisional Railway Manager Deepak Kumar Jha said that the city-based Arvind Denim has been sending its clothes of Bangladesh for garment manufacture. He said that one train has already left from Ahmedabad and the second was being loaded. He said that train carries clothes for the garment manufacturers in Bangladesh.
Jha said that the goods belong to Arvind Mills in the city and they have demanded a regular train for Bangladesh.The company had proposed upto four train in a month for Bangladesh. Jha said based on the proposal received the railways has sought permission from Ministry of Raiilways for a unrestricted movement of trains to Bangladesh.
He said that "we are waiting for a approval for the ministry." The DRM further said that good from Ahmedabad are also sent to Pakistan and Nepal. However, there are restriction for movement to Bangladesh. The goods to Pakistan and Nepal are being sent through North India.
Jha further said that in order to tap more business and look for area that have not been covered so fa in terms of Freight the Railways have formed a five-member committee to tap business which has so far not being targeted by the railways.We are also looking at transporting soft drinks. This sector is not tapped by the railways. The transportation of such drinks or FMCG is cheaper by roads than the railways and hence we are looking at the possibility for tapping this market too.
Jha said that the committee will also examine the proposal received and if it required any changes in the policy the sa ..the same will be sent to the Ministry for approval.
He also said that in order to create better infrastructure for the good sheds the railways has decided to create better facilities at the goods shed in the division. The DRM said that so far three parties have shown interest in developing the goods sheds in the division.
The railway DRM said that during the lock down the Ahmedabad division accounted to 32% of the total goods transported in the Indian Railways and it was 56% of the goods transported int the western division. He said that in all 364 Covid-19 parcel special trains were operated and a the division got a revenue of Rs 13 crore. He said that the division has achieved a record loading of 5.46 crore liters of milk from Palapur to Hind Terminal. This is the highest over Indian Railways during the lockdown. About 74 milk special trains were run to ensure the supply of milk and the revenue which was generated was nearly Rs 10 crore.