Sanjay Gupta is the youngest Chairman & Managing Director in the 28-year history of Konkan Railway Corporation (KRCL). In an exclusive interaction with INFRASTRUCTURE TODAY at KRCL headquarters in Belapur, Navi Mumbai, Gupta informs that not only is the company on the lookout for more new projects within India and overseas, but also is planning a logistics arm for point-to-point delivery of cargo.
CONCOR will tie-up with one of the shipping lines to have it loaded at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). CONCOR has also identified some pharmaceutical white goods manufacturers for the integration of cargo and running of trains. Besides Balli, there is another terminal from where containers with pig iron pellets produced by Sesa Goa are moved to Punjab for re-smelting and rolling. Besides, we have a facility on our last point called Thokur near Mangaluru.
We are building a siding there for Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) for petcoke and liquid products. A large quantity of purified terephthalic acid (PTA)–the raw material used for making PET bottles–is moved from the JBF Petrochemicals, which is downstream from MRPL. Plus, fertiliser is also moved. CONCOR has taken a facility in the port area for moving domestic containers.
In Ratnagiri, we are connecting the Jaigarh Port, which receives the largest ships on the West Coast. Then we have conducted the survey for a private port near Honnavar.
Our revenue on train operations was Rs 24.67 billion of which the traffic operating revenue was Rs 11.80 billion. Of this about Rs 6.45 billion is from coaching and Rs 5.22 billion is from freight.
The next thing on our agenda is to get thesanction of Expanded Board of Railways (EBR) on capacity enhancement. Once that gets completed, the foundation for the complete doubling of the Konkan Railway track would have also been laid. That has to do with the growth in industries and ports.
- Manish Pant