On January 5, 2021, Union Minister Piyush Vedprakash Goyal, Ministry of Railways, launched the first-of-its-kind Indian Railways dedicated Freight portal “Freight Business Development Portal” on the lines of ease of doing business. This portal enables the customers to know the status of their freight requirement.
- This online portal will replace physical processes by minimizing human to human interaction and also bring more transparency and provide professional support.
- It will also ensure customer centric operations, reduce the costs for logistics providers, and also simplify the process of goods transportation.
- The portal can be accessed at https://indianrailways.gov.in/# and https://www.fois.indianrail.gov.in/RailSAHAY
Key Features of Portal:
–The portal provides information about commodities transported by Railways: Coal, Minerals and Ores, Food Grain, Flour & Pulses, Cement & Clinker, Chemical Manure, Iron and Steel, Petroleum products, Container services, Automobile and more.
- This will enable the user to find most suitable terminals, suitable wagon, freight charges, expected transit time and incentive schemes for a selected commodity.
–It provides various tools and services for planning optimum freight transportation with Indian Railways.
–The portal also invited partnerships of aggregators, truckers, warehouse owners and labour providers to offer services to 9000+ freight customers at 4000+ freight terminals.
–It portal also caters to the customer by imparting professional support.
Additional Info:
–Indian Railways achieved the highest ever loading continuously in Sept, Oct, Nov and Dec 2020.
–In December 2020, it was 118.13 million tonnes (MT) which is 8.54% higher than December 2019 loading of 108.84 MT.
–It resulted in earnings of Rs. 11788.11 crores from freight loading which is also Rs. 757.74 crores (6.87%) higher than December 2019 (Rs. 11030.37 crores).
–Indian Railways is taking extensive steps to boost Freight loading like setting up of Business Development Units (BDUs) at Railway Board, Zonal Railway and Divisional levels to reach out customers to attract new business.
Participants: The event was attended by Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Indian Railway Board Suneet Sharma, heads, business leaders and officials of multi modal logistics service providers, commodity sectors like foodgrains, steel, auto , salt etc and other stakeholders.
Recent Related News:
i.On 9th August 2020, Piyush Vedprakash Goyal, Union Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry and Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal & Mines dedicated the Railway Museum at Hubballi, Karnataka to the Nation
ii.On October 6, 2020 Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Railways inaugurated the renaming of 115 year old Naugarh railway station to Siddharthnagar railway station, located at Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh (UP), through a video link.
About Piyush Vedprakash Goyal:
Constituency– Maharashtra
He is also the union minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
