Indian Railways

[upbeat music] In today's episode, we'll do one deep dive and cover another story for the day.

First, we'll talk about the agro mutual fund that crashed and burned, and then we'll talk about the Indian railways trying the highway.

Welcome back to the Daily Brief by Zerodha, where we cut through the noise to help you understand what's actually happening in the most important stories from business and markets.

I am your host Akshara, and today is Wednesday, 30th September.

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Coming to the second story, Indian Railways wants to build six new freight lines, mostly to move coal, iron ore, and bauxite.

Together, they'll stretch 647 kilometers across Odisha, Telangana, and Jharkhand.

And there are other consequences this piece hasn't fully explored.

For instance, Indian Railways earns roughly 44% of its freight revenue from coal, which it uses to cross-subsidize its passenger fares.

And then coal gasification could also extend coal's useful life as an industrial feedstock.

And it's also possible that the local political networks and union structures that underlie the coal economy actively resist the green transition.

I reached out to Vivek Loya, managing director of Jupiter Wagons, and I began by asking him how he was seeing the impact of the DFC's commissioning, Jupiter's own expansion plans, and other freight trends in the context of railways.

You know, dedicated freight corridor means a lot, not only to Jupiter definitely, but to our nation, I think, in general, because Indian Railway had been thirsty for investments.

And, you know, if you talk about the early sixties, seventies, railway was the biggest logistics carrier in the nation.

And if you look at till the late seventies also, our railway network was much bigger than the Chinese in terms of size.

There's a lot of technology involved.

The gestation periods are much higher.

So earlier, you know, the Indian railway industry did not have, I would say, the size to put in that kind of investments.

But now, you know, under the current government, they have invested heavily.

Like, um, and it's ... that's been a huge shift from when I started.

Um, you know, a lot of the Indian players play, um, also worked for Indian Railways.

So when they weren't playing cricket, they were, they were working on the railways.

Is that right?

So factories, railways, and power utilities auction off obsolete equipment through tenders.

In fact, Indian Railways regularly auctions condemned locomotives and rolling stock through its IREPS platform, and individual lots can contain several tons of recoverable copper.

Now, how much of this collection really matters? The numbers on this are quite conflicted.

One industry estimate puts the end-of-life copper recycling rate at 95 to 99%, attributing it to high collection efficiency.

The incentive is aimed at attracting airlines and building international traffic at the new airport.

Four, Indian Railways plans to procure new 6,000 HP energy-efficient locomotives for older non-Vande Bharat passenger trains.

The engines will support push-pull operation, improve journey times, and eliminate the need for separate generator cars.

Five, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has amended the Consumer Protection or eCommerce rules to introduce stricter checks against dark patterns, fake sponsored listings, and price manipulation, effective January 2027.

New CSMT-Sawantwadi train strengthens Mumbai-Konkan connectivity.

Indian Railways has introduced a daily express service connecting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, CSMT, in Mumbai with Sawantwadi Road, providing a direct rail link across key locations in the Konkan region.

The service, covering around five hundred and ten kilometer, was flagged off by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The train will serve stations across Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg, including Then, Panvel, Ratnagiri, Kankavli, Kudal, and Sawantwadi.

The club has been asked to explain its position before further action is considered.

Indian Railways clears INR 675 crore projects across three states.

Indian Railways has approved three infrastructure projects worth a combined INR 675 crore across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal to strengthen railway safety, modernise signalling and improve freight movement.

The package includes INR 170 crore for Kavach 4.0 across the remaining 712 route kilometres of the Moradabad division, INR 233 crore for electronic interlocking at 21 stations in Bihar's Samastipur division and INR 272 crore for an 11-kilometre bypass between Adra and Joychandipahar in West Bengal.

The projects are aimed at improving operational efficiency, easing congestion and supporting growing passenger and freight traffic.

The portfolio spans 90,53,75,72,1 square yards across HB Colony, Madhilapalem and Autonagar, Gajuwaka and will be offered for outright sale with clear, encumbrance-free government titles.

Bidding will be held on the Railtel eNivida platform across two dates, 12 and 16 October, 76, with Quicker India Pavtegad Luthdi appointed as the transaction consultant to facilitate the process.

Indian Railways clears over INR 800 crore projects to strengthen safety and freight capacity.