Maruti Suzuki looking at transporting more vehicles via railways to cut down costs and reduce emissions
Maruti Suzuki is looking at transporting more vehicles it makes via railways to cut down costs and reduce emissions in line with the government’s push towards clean mobile solutions.
The company, along with joint-venture partners, has invested over Rs 1081 crore to commission the country’s first in-plant railway siding at its manufacturing facility in Gujarat, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday. Maruti Suzuki plans to set up similar facilities in Manesar and Kharkhoda (Haryana).
Overall, the company said it plans to substantially increase the proportion of cars it transports via railways as it doubles production to 4 million units per annum by 2030, from a little over 21% currently.
Rahul Bharti, executive officer (corporate affairs) at Maruti Suzuki, said, over the past few years the company has been undertaking several measures to increase focus on green logistics. “We have been increasing by 100,000 units the number of vehicles transported via railways the past couple of years. But this will go up substantially in the coming years, as we double production capacity to 4 million units per annum by the end of the decade.”
Over a fifth of all passenger vehicles produced in the country are now transported through railways, a five-fold increase from 4.5% in FY18. Apart from a reduction in overall logistics costs, railways offer convenience of efficiently transporting multiple batches of vehicles while helping meet sustainability targets, said industry stakeholders.
Railway transportation
