Project Monitor reported that Arshiya International has planned to roll out 30 rakes over the next 15 months.
Railway operations were launched on February 2nd 2009, with the very first rake pressed into service at Jharsuguda in Orissa. The rake will offer customized rail transport solutions to Vedanta Aluminium Ltd that is building aluminium smelting capacity in the eastern state.
The 30 rake roll out that constitutes phase-I of Arshiya's railway operations will be spread over 15 months, at an average rate of 2 rakes per month. The INR 1,600 crore railway business will come under Arshiya Rail Infrastructure Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arshiya International Ltd, formed in April 2008 when Indian Railways granted a pan India licence.
The official said that for phase-I of the plan, equity infusion has already taken place and the company is in the final stages of mobilizing debt. ARIL's eventual plan is to have 75 rakes in operation, making it the largest private railway operator in the country. Arshiya's early routes will mainly focus on providing east to west and east to north connectivity in India.
Mr Ajay S Mittal CMD of Arshiya International Ltd in a statement that “We are confident that the rail services, combined with the services to be provided at the free trade warehousing zones, will present a substantial value proposition to our customers.”
Arshiya International Ltd in August 2008 also placed an order on Finland based Kalmar Industries for sourcing seven E One+ rubber-tyred gantry and 10 reach stackers. These new units will be deployed at Arshiya's proposed free trade warehousing zones in India and Middle East. Some equipment will also be used at its railway terminals across India. Meanwhile, Arshiya International is expected to soon start work on the Mumbai Free Trade Warehousing Zone.
Despite, the ongoing economic slowdown, long-term prospects for private players remain bright for railway container operations. India is expected to handle 200 million tonne of rail based container cargo by 2011-12 against 20 million tonne today.
Much of this handling is likely to be propelled by private operators. Industry experts also feel that the advent of private players will also bring about greater efficiency in the overall Indian logistics industry. Currently, logistics costs account for 13% to 15% of the country's GDP. Private sector participation will bring about greater efficiency leading to a much lower incidence of logistics costs, experts feel. Indian Railways opened up container train services to the private sector in October 2006, ending the monopoly of public sector Container Corporation of India Ltd.
(Sourced from Project monitor)
