Industry Reactions - Railway Budget 2009-2010
 According to Mr. D.P. Agarwal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Transport Corporation of India, The Railway Minister has evinced a forward-looking budget for the rail-freight sector. The plan of setting up mega logistics hubs in Eastern and Western Corridor and the policy to allow private freight terminal will give the much-required boost to the logistics sector.
The Ministry’s plans for developing more dedicated rail corridors and acquiring 18,000 wagons by next year will address the problems of incessant increase in freight traffic and congestion of the operative lines. The announcement of launch of a premium parcel service between 3 stations on pilot basis is expected to help the express segment.
The use of Railway land bank for industrial development, freight terminals and Multi modal logistics parks is likely have a positive impact on the logistics sector. We are happy that there are no hikes in rail freight, which could have affected the sector. Setting up cold storage facilities for farmers to store the crop production will help reduce wastages in the system.
Speaking on the impact on the Road Freight sector, Mr. Agarwal added, "As there is no change in the rail freight rates, there will not be any immediate or direct impact on the road freight sector. However, the end customer will benefit with better coordination between the Rail-Road freight sectors, with the timely and efficient execution of the initiatives announced. We strongly believe that Rail & Road collectively can enhance productivity and efficiency of the Indian Logistics Industry."
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Union Budget