India’s Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu (C) gestures upon his arrival at the parliament to present the railway budget in New Delhi, February 25, 2016. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s state-owned railways is reviewing the tariff structure for its freight business and wants to expand the basket of commodities it transports to boost revenues, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Thursday.
Presenting the annual rail budget for 2016/17, Prabhu said the freight business – which provides two-thirds of Indian railways’ revenues – was struggling as capacity constraints bite and industrial demand slows.
“These are challenging times, maybe the toughest,” he told parliament, announcing plans for three new dedicated freight corridors across the country. “We need to look beyond the current approach to expand the basket (of commodities). We will make sure we recapture the traffic.”
(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Malini Menon)