New Delhi, 17 June (IANS). Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Tuesday inaugurated the country’s largest automobile multi-model cargo terminal at the Maruti Suzuki India Limited Plant in Manesar, Haryana.
The new speed strength in Maruti Suzuki’s plant greatly increases the logistics efficiency of cargo terminal automobile transport. The Manesar plant is connected to Patli railway station through a 10 km rail link, which is part of the 121.7 km long Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor being developed by Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (HRIDC).
800 crore has been invested for the construction of this 10 km link, in which HRIDC contributed Rs 684 crore and the remaining amount was given by Maruti Suzuki. The loading capacity of this speed power cargo terminal is the highest in India with 4.5 million automobiles per year.
During the inauguration program, the Union Minister said that there has been a big change in the Indian Railways in the last decade. Before 2014, the annual budget of Indian Railways was 24,000 to 25,000 crore rupees, which has now increased to Rs 2.5 lakh crore.
He further said, “A focused campaign has been launched to increase the number of general coaches in the last two and a half years. Last year, more than 1,200 general coaches have been added.”
The Union Minister said, “In the financial year 2023-24, Indian Railways transported about 720 crore passengers and 1,617 million tonnes. The figure helped Indian Railways become the second highest freight rail service globally, making 2023–24 a historical year.”
Vaishnav said that the railway coach factory at Sonepat is being modernized. “This advance railway factory will soon be ready for inauguration and will play an important role in increasing our coach production capacity,” he said.
Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini, State Industries Minister Rao Narbir Singh and Maruti Suzuki CEO and Managing Director Hisashi Tekauchi were present at the event.
-IANS
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