Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated India’s first automobile in-plant railway siding project of Maruti Suzuki India at its plant in Hansalpur, Gujarat.
During his Gujarat trip, Modi also laid the foundation stone for railway projects worth INR 85,000 crore, including the launch of 10 new Vande Bharat trains.
Maruti Suzuki is looking to increasingly tap the country’s vast railway network for shipping new cars from its factories to dealers as part of its strategy to cut costs and reduce carbon emissions in line with the government’s push towards clean mobility solutions.
The company, along with joint venture partners, has invested more than INR 1,081 crore to build the in-plant railway siding at its factory in Gujarat.
India’s largest carmaker plans to build similar facilities in Manesar and Kharkhoda (both in Haryana).
Overall, the company said it plans to substantially grow the share of new cars shipped via railways from the current about 21% as it works towards doubling annual production capacity to 4 million vehicles by 2030.
Rahul Bharti, executive officer (corporate affairs) at Maruti Suzuki said the company has been sharpening its focus on green logistics over the past few years.
“We have been increasing by 100,000 units every year the number of vehicles transported via railways. But this will go up substantially in the coming years, as we double production capacity to 4 million units per annum by the end of the decade.”
Over a fifth of all passenger vehicles produced in the country are transported via railways, a fivefold increase from 4.5% in FY18, said industry stakeholders. Apart from cost benefits, railways offer convenience of efficiently transporting multiple batches of vehicles while helping meet sustainability targets, they added.
Railway transportation allows automakers to reach faraway destinations in half the time taken by road.
