Rail freight sees first YoY decline since Covid in June; sea cargo flat

Freight volumes for the national transporter, Indian Railways, contracted year-on-year for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak, shows the data for June released by the Ministry of Railways. The Railways ferried 123 million tonnes (mt) of goods last month, almost 2 per cent less than in June 2022.

Before this, railway freight volumes had been witnessing YoY growth for the past 36 months, after they drastically declined between March 2020 and July 2020 amid Covid-19 restrictions. Earnings from freight operations in June also decreased 0.95 per cent YoY to Rs 13,316 crore.