Maiden Kisan Rail all set to carry oranges to national capital
| Date :14-Oct-2020 |
Staff Reporter :
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to flag off the maiden run of Orange Special ex-Nagpur Railway Station on Wednesday
Heralding a new era in transport of oranges, maiden Kisan Rail is set for carrying nearly 300 tonnes of mandarin fruit to national capital from second capital of Maharashtra. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari would flag off the maiden run of Orange Special ex-Nagpur Railway Station on Wednesday at 6 pm. A mini rake of 10 parcel vans (VPs) would be run till Adarsh Nagar station in New Delhi carrying first bulk consignment of the table fruit from the orange belt of Central India.
As per stipulation of Railway Board, parcels of perishable products within the country can be carried in short rakes. The decision was done to aid faster transport of perishable goods to markets from farms and cut down wastage in transport. Apart from that Railways too stands to benefit as it is making optimum utilisation of its assets and ensuring that COVID-19 pandemic do not choke the supply lines. In run-up to Kisan Rail, Central Railway's Nagpur Division placed VPs at Warud (5), Katol (1), Narkher (1) and Pandhurna (3) to facilitate loading by the traders who placed their indents for transport of oranges. In addition, division bosses decided to add two extra bogies over and above Board's stipulation and the gamble has paid off.
The response from commission agents is increasing and one consignment of 10 tonnes is arriving for loading to city from Morshi. Since the VPs at adjoining stations were already full, the agent frantically contacted Commercial Department officials and inquired about availability of VP. The officials are sure that even the balance spare capacity as of now would be fully loaded as word spread about availability of VPs. CR it seems is all set to capture lion's share in transport of the mandarin oranges and Warud station would see major loading as major produce is now concentrated in this belt. In fact, this is very first instance of oranges being transported through rail route as so far VPs eluded the cultivators due to lack of political will. But with Railways aggressively entering in transport market it may provide stiff competition to road sector in long run.
The oranges are still being harvested and by third week of October the quantity of arrival in Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yard would increase manifold. Even South East Central Railway (SECR) Nagpur Division is seeking to capture orange traffic, this is a new product for railways, and is concentrating on Saunsar in neighbouring Chhindwara district.
Railways to give 50 per cent rebate on freight cost In a pre-diwali gift to traders and agents who have booked orange consignment on Kisan Rail, Railway Ministry has directed field units to provide 50 per cent rebate on freight charges. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari efforts in leveraging scheme of Union Ministry of Food Processing has paid off. In a communication dated October 13, 2020, to Principal Chief Commercial Managers of 16 Zones, Mudit Chandra, Director, Freight Marketing, Railway Board, mentioned that under ‘Operation Greens-TOP to Total’, Ministry of Food Processing Industries would directly credit subsidy to Railway Ministry.
The benefit on ground for traders and agents would be quite huge as of now they were required to pay Rs 3.50/kg and with applying 50 per cent rebate the new cost is Rs 1.50/kg. The decision is going to benefit Railways as now maximum transport of orange even within the country is likely to be made through nation's lifeline as the advantage over road sector is quite decisive now. A budgetary allocation of Rs. 500 crores is made by Ministry of Food Processing Industries for integrated development of tomato, onion and potato (TOP) value chain with aim to stabilise prices (for short term) plus development of value chain projects. The scheme document reads that subsidy is to be provided for transportation of all fruits and vegetables (perishable) from surplus production centres to deficient markets and also on storage, including cold storages.