The Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) has urged the Railway Ministry to withdraw the 6.5% hike in rail freight to reign in infrastructure development costs.
The cement manufacturers have also urged the Ministry to mechanize cement terminals to improve efficiency and encourage private investments.
They said in the representation, the Circular No. 20 June 20, 2014 hiking the freight rates by 6.5% should be withdrawn.
All important terminals handling cement in the country may be mechanized with world-class facilities for improving better turnaround of wagons.
Private investments in Railways' schemes may be encouraged by providing freight rebate of at least 22% and that too for the entire 40-year life of the wagons.
Before announcing any Policy, inputs from may be obtained. Rakes requirement of the industry should be met in full throughout the year, particularly during peak construction period.
The freight hike will further discourage movement of cement, clinker and input materials by rail. The rail co-efficient for cement has plummeted to 34% now from 50% a couple of years back.
In the last two-and-a-half-years, the overall transportation cost of cement has gone up by 40%. With the current 6.5% increase in the freight rates, the additional average burden on cement Industry will be about 100 a tonne or 5 per bag of 50 kg, the Association said in the representation.