India Inc has cheered the changing face of Railways as it has become more corporate-friendly with the announcement of exclusive freight corridors and plans to start private sector-owned container trains by March 31, 2006. One of the key concerns of Indian companies has been the stagnation in capacity augmentation. The freight corridor, which would be developed in two phases with an investment of Rs 22,000 crore, would add a new dimension to freight movement. Besides, plans to increase capacity by allowing double stack container trains in March would definitely increase railway’s revenues. The Rail Budget, says analysts, was innovative as it sought to lower the turnaround time of wagons and was adding more coaches to existing and new trains. ‘‘The move to have a dedicated multi-modal high axle freight corridor on western and eastern routes is laudable, as it will give tremendous boost to the growing Indian freight industry,’’ says D.P. Agarwal, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, TCI (Travel Corporation Pvt Ltd). The new initiatives launched by the railway minister such as freight discount scheme, loyalty discount scheme, non-peak season incremental freight discount scheme, etc. would make railways further competitive vis-a-vis road transport. Also in the spotlight is the intent to give a major push to public-private partnership. The Railways have promised open bidding for eligible projects. This has gone down well with corporate India. On the other hand, Indian Railways’ favourite whipping boy in successive budgets, freight charges, were left untouched bringing smiles back on the face of CEOs. The lowering of freight rates of diesel and petrol by 8 per cent is expected to ease the inflationary pressure on the economy. The policy, apart from supplementing the efforts of the railways to provide efficient transport services, would help generate extra revenue to railways. The minister has talked of technological transfer for high capacity wagons, undertake application of IT, provided for new improved signaling and proposed 25-tonne axle load wagons and proposed increasing the production of electric locos by 17 per cent and diesel locos by 5 per cent. In view of the high oil prices, introduction of electric locos would result in cost saving and increase the haulage capacity. Already companies like Delhi-based Gateway Distriparks have announced that it has got “in-principle approval” to start container trains on the same line as Concor in key sectors. “The receipt of 14 proposals from private sector within a month of policy announcement is an indication of a wide scope for PPP in Railways,” said ITC chairman Y. C. Deveshwar. F stands for Focus on Freight.