Date: 29/08/2022

Relevance: GS-3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways, etc.

Key Phrases: Freight transport, an environment-friendly option for long-distance freight, rail network capacity, Rail Green Point (RGP), intermodal transportation, Ministry of Commerce, Reduced carbon emissions, new freight transportation paradigm.

Why in News?

• As national freight activity grows about five-fold by 2050, India’s freight transport ecosystem has a critical role to play in supporting India’s ambitious priorities.
• Some of these include international competitiveness, job growth, urban and rural livelihoods, and clean air and environment.

Freight transport energy consumption:

• India’s cumulative energy consumption from freight transport between 2020 and 2050 under a business as usual (BAU) scenario will be around 5.8 billion tonnes of oil equivalent (TOE).
• However, India can reduce this energy consumption by 50 percent under an efficient scenario through three opportunity areas:
  • Increasing the share of rail transport
  • Optimising truck use
  • Promoting the use of fuel-efficient vehicles and alternative fuels
• These opportunities will also lead to the following benefits:
  • Reduced logistics costs: India has set a target of reducing the logistics costs as a share of GDP from 14 percent currently to 10 percent by 2022, which can save up to INR 10 lakh crore.
  • Reduced carbon emissions and improved air quality: India can save 10 Giga tonnes of CO2, 500-kilo tonnes of particulate matter (PM), and 15 million tonnes of nitrogen oxide (NOx) caused by freight transport by 2050.
  • Less truck traffic on roads: Improved mode share and efficient logistics can reduce vehicular-freight activity by 48 percent in 2050 over a BAU scenario.

Rail’s share:

• Rail’s share in freight transportation in India has been declining since 1951.
• In 2020, it stood at merely 18 percent as compared to the road’s share of 71 percent.
• This is due to insufficient rail capacity, especially on certain high-density routes.
• Several factors suggest that rail could be a cost-effective and efficient alternative for a significant share of India’s freight:
  • A commodity mix that has a high share of bulk goods: suitable for rail’s bulk-handling capabilities
  • Freight travel is often over longer distances: suitable to rail’s economies of scale relative to road transport
  • India has a low coast-to-landmass ratio: between the two low carbon freight modes, rail and coastal, India’s geography makes rail more feasible in many areas of the country as compared to coastal
• The role of rail is not limited to bulk freight. By combining rail and road transport for containerized goods, a practice known as intermodal, rail can compete for a market share of higher value, non-bulk goods.

How to increase the rail’s share in freight transport?

• To increase the share of rail transport, India can prioritize the following solutions:
  • Increase the rail network capacity
  • Increase the share of intermodal transportation
• The following actions can support the deployment of these solutions:
  • Improve existing network infrastructure by increasing axle loads, increasing train length, and enabling trains to move faster
  • Add new network capacity by developing specialized heavy-haul corridors and dedicated freight corridors
  • Identify and upgrade corridors with high potential for intermodal transport
  • Ensure better modal integration across rail, road, and water

Economic and social development through efficient freight development:

• The development of freight infrastructure reduces costs for businesses and improves delivery productivity by reducing travel time and enabling improved supply-chain practices.
• Improved freight movement increases employment opportunities for less developed regions or disadvantaged social groups through direct jobs such as freighters, managers, and shippers.
• Improved connectivity through the development of infrastructure can lead to the creation of manufacturing jobs as well as supporting service sector jobs such as insurance and finance. Overall, this can help reach the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s target to increase employment in the logistics sector by 2 crores by 2022.
• The development of freight-specific infrastructure can provide robust connectivity between major agricultural, industrial, and cultural centres in India, creating economic benefits.
  • For example, the faster transfer of farming goods between farms and cities for sales and exports can reduce spoilage by 25 percent.

Conclusion:

• To sustain the growing demand for freight transport without driving existing externalities to extreme levels, Indian stakeholders need to take steps to shift to a new freight paradigm that is more cost-effective, clean, and efficient.
• This new freight transportation paradigm will also help India achieve its development goals, including improved air quality, improved GDP, better public health, enhanced logistics productivity, and more employment opportunities, and is in line with India’s clean mobility ambitions.

Source: The Hindu BL

Mains Question:

Q. How is rail emerging as a reliable, environment-friendly option for long-distance freight? Critically evaluate the challenges and opportunities of railway freight transport in India.