Inside Indian Railways’ Rs 700 crore a year gamble

The Indian Railways has taken a gamble, deciding to forgo close to Rs 700 crore a year that it collects from companies running freight businesses on its network. Under a new cargo policy, which came into effect on December 15, owners of private sidings, or short railway tracks, and private freight stations — about 1,200 in total— will no longer have to pay land licensing fees for using railway tracks that connect their private sites to the nearest rail line.

However, this pre-Christmas gift comes with a caveat. The Railways reserves the rights to allow another private terminal to share the same track. In other words, the connecting railway line, built with the resources of a freight terminal owner, will now be railway property.