Chairman Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Jammu chapter Rahul Sahai on Monday urged the Jammu Railway Division of the Northern Railway to strengthen freight terminals, warehousing facilities and day time scheduling of freight rakes.
He made these suggestions while participating in the Business Development Unit (BDU) interaction organised by the Jammu Railway Division of the Northern Railway at the Divisional Railway Office, Jammu.
Sahai, on behalf of ICC Jammu, also suggested bolstering of container handling systems besides loading and unloading infrastructure in Jammu and adjoining industrial areas. The meeting was chaired by Vivek Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager, Northern Railway, Jammu Division. Other dignitaries present on the dais included Uchit Singhal, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager and Arish Bansal, Senior Divisional Operations Manager.
During the interaction, Rahul Sahai submitted a detailed representation on behalf of ICC Jammu highlighting several important issues concerning freight movement, logistics infrastructure, and ease of doing business in Jammu and Kashmir. He emphasised that efficient rail connectivity and improved freight infrastructure were crucial for the economic growth of the region, particularly for industries, MSMEs, traders, and agriculture-based sectors.
He specifically requested that rake arrival timings should preferably be during daytime due to labour availability constraints and appealed for enhancement of rake unloading time from 7 hours to 24 hours. Sahai also requested waiver of demurrage charges in cases where unloading is delayed due to operational challenges.
ICC Jammu chairman further stressed the need for development of goods sheds at Bari Brahmana, Samba, and Jammu and called for early operationalization of the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Samba.
He also highlighted the importance of better wagon availability, multi-modal logistics facilities, rational freight charges, digitalisation of railway freight systems, improved last-mile connectivity and train stoppage at Anantnag station to support MSMEs and local businesses.
During the meeting, Northern Railway officials gave a detailed presentation on various freight and logistics services being offered by Indian Railways, including Roll-On Roll-Off (RO-RO) services, parcel transshipment facilities, specialized freight wagons, reefer containers, automobile carriers, tank wagons, and parcel cargo services.
The presentation highlighted the benefits of RO-RO services such as reduced transportation cost, lower fuel consumption, reduced road congestion, enhanced safety, environmental sustainability, timely delivery, and reduced wear and tear of vehicles.
Railway officials also emphasised the importance of multi-modal logistics integration and informed participants about specialised wagons available for carrying bagged material, steel, iron, liquid cargo, food grains, automobiles, and industrial goods. The interaction witnessed participation from freight customers, consignors, consignees, logistics operators, and representatives from trade and industry.
Among those present were Ashish Jain and Raj Dua from ICC Jammu, Rakesh from CONCOR, besides representatives from IOCL, BPCL, Adani Cements, and other leading industrial and logistics organisations.
Rahul Sahai appreciated Northern Railway for organising the stakeholder interaction and expressed confidence that regular dialogue between Railways and industry stakeholders would significantly strengthen trade, logistics, and industrial growth in J&K.
He also appreciated the efforts of Indian Railways in promoting greener and cost-effective logistics solutions through rail-based freight movement and assured full cooperation from ICC Jammu chapter in all initiatives aimed at improving freight and logistics infrastructure in the region.
About The Author
