The latest decision by the government to allow commercial mining of coal will help India save Rs 30,000 crore. By allowing private firms to mine coal, India will boost not only its production but also save Rs 30,000 crore of imports, PTI reported citing a Crisil statement. The decision by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) to award the coal mining rights to the highest bidder without any restrictions on end use will boost both efficiency and production, Crisil said. The import will be substituted with domestic production, Crisil added. Currently, more than 90 percent of mining in the country is done by the government.

India fulfills one fifth of its requirement annually through imports which cost it around Rs 1 lakh crore. The largest consumers of non-coking coal namely sectors such as power, cement and steel will gain the most out of the government’s decision to commercialise coal mining. India imported 150 million tonne (MT) in FY17 costing it around Rs Rs 59,000 crore. Coal-based power plants, private thermal plants and captive power plants import nearly 90 percent of the total coal in the country.

Indian Railways’ locomotive production unit in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi has made history by converting a diesel locomotive into an electric one using technology developed in the country, the Times of India has reported.

Authorities at the production unit have said that this was the first time a diesel locomotive was converted into an electric one anywhere in the world. The work on the project, officials said, was completed in a short span of two months.

“The work on this project was started on December 22, 2017 and the locomotive was successfully rolled out on February 28, 2018,” an official noted.

A team of experts and engineers from the Research Designs and Standards Organisation, Chiitaranjan Locomotive Works, Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) and Bharat Heavy Electricals, working under the leadership of DLW General Manager Rashmi Goel, achieved this feat.

Only locomotives which are due for mid-life rehabilitation will be considered for conversion. The production unit made use of parts from decommissioned electric locomotives to make the process cost-effective while retaining chassis, bogies and traction motors used in the diesel locomotive.

The re-engineered locomotive is currently being tested for safety and incorporation of improvements in its design.

This development is significant because the Indian Railways, according to Coal and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, will completely Phase Out diesel locomotives in the next five years and switch to electric locomotives.

Source: https://swarajyamag.com/insta/indian-railways-makes-history-converts-diesel-loco-into-electric-using-indigenous-tech-in-two-months

The critics of the bullet train project may not like the recent statement of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi advising those opposing the bullet train project to travel on bullock carts. However, they should realize that his emphasis on the necessity of the project for India is appreciated by the masses. In fact they should realize that continuous criticism of the project may boomerang on them as the people at large does not believe that the government, by committing to the bullet train project, has compromised on the upgradation of the Indian Railways.

Millions of businesses thrive and billions of people live, directly or indirectly on Indian Railways. Therefore, in addition to its financial objectives, it has to achieve a social goal and this is why it is, unlike many rail networks around the world, is controlled and run by the government. Naturally, any investment by the government on the Indian Railways is seen by the public as an act for the welfare of the people. But the politics and too much of bureaucracy has made, operationally, the whole network as one of the most inefficient railway network in the world. The consequence is not just longer travel time or loss of taxpayers’ money.

Travellers regularly meet with fatal accidents and also face innumerable incidences concerning their safety. Given the seventy of years of heritage of poor management during post-Independence era, the effort to improve both financial and operational performances of Indian Railways appears to be a Herculean task. Even if we assume that a complete organisational overhaul is possible, given the size, the financial requirement may reach few hundreds of billions of dollars. Finally, the taxpayers’ would pay a major part of the above funds and also the interests on borrowings for something for which the outcome is unknown.

Given our competency in project management, they may have to spend more than a decade before we can see substantial difference in performance. As any economy is deeply linked to its transportation and communication infrastructure, until we do it (or rather complete the overhauling process) our economy must suffer.

The bullet train project is about trying an alternative approach which is easier in terms of effort and project management but may have similar financial burden. The investment, however, would build an alternative high-speed network that uses latest of the technological advancements and is safer. The alternative being completely new makes it easier to manage and execute.

More strategically, we can use the new network for long-distance travel while utilising the existing one for short-distances. Please look around and analyse some of the major technological innovations where governments as well as private enterprises are putting hundreds of billions of dollars. A good number of such big technological developments relates to the transportation sector. No one has any doubt that these efforts are going to drastically change the way businesses would be conducted in the future.

In such a scenario, the Indian Railway, with an average speed of just above 50KM/hour looks medieval and would definitely hamper our economy at a time we are aiming to become world’s third largest economy after the USA and China.

Given the conservative estimate of 20,000 passengers per day in 2020, any scientific estimation method would give closer value to the desired number for the traffic volume in 2035. I also did a quick check on the prices for one-week advance air ticket and found that the least airfare is at least 40 percent more compared to the proposed train fare. The biggest benefit though would be travel speed and convenience. A businessman or an entrepreneur or someone from the working class would only see an economic opportunity in saving time and improving convenience. Thus, keeping in mind about the India of the future, building a pan-India network of bullet trains would definitely be a rational investment decision for the government.

Source: http://www.firstpost.com/business/why-bullet-train-is-not-a-luxury-but-a-necessity-for-india-its-bigger-benefits-are-speed-convenience-4364943.html

Ministry of Railways

Ministry of Railways sets Zero scrap balance target for all Zonal Railways.
All General Managers of Zonal Railways have been advised to strictly monitor the e-auction of scrap.
Total scrap sales till December 2017 of current financial year has reached to Rs. 1837 crores which is 22% higher than the corresponding sales of Rs. 1503 crores upto December 2016 of the year 2016-17

Posted On: 23 JAN 2018 4:40PM by PIB Delhi

Earnings from sale of Railway scrap not only augments Railways revenue but also helps in keeping the Railway track, stations, workshops, depots neat and tidy.  In this regard, Ministry of Railways has directed all Zonal Railway & Production units to achieve Zero scrap balance by end of March 2018.  General Managers of all the Zonal Railways/PUs have been advised to regularly monitor this activity and to intensify supervision at senior officers’ level so as to promptly identify scrap and offer it for e-auction.

With the concerted efforts by all the Railways, total scrap sales till December 2017 of current financial year has reached to Rs. 1837 crores which is 22% higher than the corresponding sales of Rs. 1503 crores upto December 2016 of the year 2016-17.

Indian Railways have been selling its internally generated scrap entirely through   online e-auction.  Majority of the scrap material comprises of worn-out rails and track fittings released from track renewal/gauge conversion, steel scrap generated in course of overhaul /repairs of rolling stocks, other non-ferrous and miscellaneous  scrap.

The e-auction module is part of the IREPS (Indian Railways E-Procurement System) which is a single portal of Indian Railways handling all procurements tenders and e-auctions digitally. All the Zonal Railways and Production Units use this single platform for online sales of scrap.  Monthly on an average, 200 e-auctions are conducted by Materials Managers in Divisions and Stores Depots spread all over Indian Railways.  Auction schedules and details of saleable materials are published regularly on IREPS website & updated online. The endeavor shall be continued so as to achieve the task of Zero scrap balance by end of March 2018.

Source: http://www.pib.nic.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1517499