New Delhi, Feb. 24: Railway minister Lalu Prasad today said freight rates would be rationalised by reducing the number of rates from 80 to 28 and by introducing a “dynamic pricing policy” bundled with discounts for oil, cement and steel companies.
The new structure, the minister said, would reduce the freight rates of diesel and petrol by around 8 per cent.
Oil industry analysts feel the move is unlikely to bring down prices of the transport fuels immediately as a major portion of the oil consumed in the country is transported through pipelines. However, the move is expected to save costs of about Rs 50 crore for oil marketing companies. The cost of transporting diesel and petrol could also come down by about 8 per cent.
A ‘non-peak season incremental freight discount scheme’ has also been announced, which would allow bulk movers like steel, grain and fertilisers a discount of up to 15 per cent on additional freight transported in the monsoon season between July 1 and October 31. This rebate would be applicable for all commodities except coal and minerals.
The railways has also awarded its loyal freight customers. Under the loyalty discount scheme, during the non-peak season, if over 90 per cent of the production of any steel or cement factory is transported by rail, a discount of 1 per cent in freight would be given. The discount will be half a per cent if the railways is used to transport between 50 per cent and 90 per cent of the factory produce.
An “empty flow direction freight discount scheme” has been announced. The scheme offers up to 30 per cent discount during the non-peak season and 20 per cent in the peak season on incremental freight in the “empty flow direction”. The move is aimed at increasing transport of goods during the return of the freight train to original sector.
In addition, several classes of commodities, including foodgrains, bricks and stones, and machinery and machine tools could avail of “mini rake and 2-point rake scheme” and get a discount of 5 per cent during the non-peak season.
