The Hindu Business Line : Container cargo movement — Pipavav ready, others to wait and watch

WITH the Railways throwing open container cargo movement to the private sector, players in the industry have started chalking plans to enter into the domain hitherto dominated by the Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor).

While Concor, which still holds a monopoly of the Inland Container Depots (ICDs), has decided to adopt a wait and watch approach, Pipavav Rail Corporation Ltd (PRCL) has drawn up plans to spend Rs 155 crore to enter the business. "As of now, two rakes of container trains move on our railway line daily. To cater to the demand of the Pipavav port, we are planning to acquire 12 rakes of container flats, each costing about Rs 12 crore, over the next six months," the PRCL Managing Director, Mr R.C. Dubey, told Business Line. In fact, PRCL, a 50:50 joint venture between Nikhil Gandhi-promoted Pipavav Port and the Railways, has its application to operate container trains pending with the Railways. PRCL has built a broad gauge line between Pipavav port and Surendranagar. As for the requirement to tie up with an ICD, Mr Dubey said that the company's existing tie-up with Concor holds and it will soon apply for a license to operate between Pipavav and Tughlakabad ICD.

PRCL will initially take a permit for one route, but is willing to offer its services to other players and take an all-India permission at a later date.

Kutch Railway Company Ltd (a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, the Adani group, the Kandla Port Trust and the Gujarat Government) says it will first go through the detailed notification before making announcements on its future plans. "As of now, we are occupied with the Samakhiali-Palanpur gauge conversion project that is slated to be completed by March 31 this year. We certainly want to operate container trains, but we will begin drawing up plans only after reading through the details," the Kutch Railway Managing Director, Mr Yogendra Sharma, said.

Kutch Railway has not finalised any tie-ups with Concor for ICDs. The company may even consider converting an existing Container Freight Station (CFS) in its hinterland into an ICD by providing rail connectivity. "There are several Container Freight Stations in Punjab and in the vicinity of Delhi. We may even tie up with one of them to provide rail connectivity. But we have not started discussions with anybody as yet," Mr Sharma said.

Concor, which is sitting pretty with its monopoly over ICDs, says it will wait for some time to see how things shape up before coming up with a strategy to protect its turf. "It will take some time for the private sector players to come into the business. We have ample experience in the business. Container traffic itself is growing rapidly. We don't think that the entry of private players will impact our business," a senior Concor official said.

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