Business Line reported that the iron ore transportation policy of Indian Railways has come under review.
The high powered committee, constituted by the Railway Board a few months ago to examine the present policy and make necessary recommendations is believed to have firmed up its findings. The committee was headed by the executive director with the chief operations managers of top 3 freight loading zonal railways, South East Central, South Eastern and East Coast, as members.
The rail movement of iron ore has been through ups and downs in past few years. It started picking up from around 2002-03, rising significantly in 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10, with the exports rising up to 100 million tonnes or so. The domestic demand for iron ore also jumped. However, the boom did not persist; it gave way to slump from around 2010-11.
Between 2006-07 and 2009-10, the iron ore throughput of South Eastern Railway, the largest loader and transporter of iron ore, jumped from 56.33 million tonne to 75.73 million tonne and during the period the throughput for exports increased from 8.57 million tonne to 18.95 million tonne. From 2010-11, the decline started the throughput dropping to 68.89 million tonne in 2010-11 and further to 62.15 million tonne in 2011-12. During the same period the throughput for exports dropped to 15.3 million tonne and 8.28 million tonne, respectively.
