Maruti Suzuki uses Indian Railways to dispatch 2.33 lakh units last fiscal

Maruti Suzuki India has shipped about 2.33 lakh units with the help of Indian Railways in the last fiscal. According to a senior company official, this is Maruti Suzuki's highest ever dispatch that it carried out since the automaker began the initiative eight years ago.

Maruti Suzuki's dispatches via Railways last fiscal grew by 23 per cent compared to the preceding fiscal. By following this dispatch process that would have needed over 1,56,000 truck trips and over 174 million litres of fuel, the automaker helped in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. As per a report by PTI, Maruti Suzuki has transported around 11 lakh vehicles through railways in the last eight years thus helping to reduce over 4,800 MT of carbon dioxide emissions.

Maruti Suzuki also shared that it is working with the Indian Railways to increase the use of rail transport to dispatch its vehicles. MSI Executive Director Rahul Bharti said, “Railway logistics offers a significant potential over road logistics to lower carbon footprint and reduce road congestion. Over the years we have consciously increased the share of car dispatches from our factory to dealers using railways."

Bharti also added that the automaker will increase its share of rail transportation from the current level of 15 per cent. “To further increase the share, we are taking several steps. As an industry first initiative, we have formed joint ventures with the governments of Gujarat and Haryana to set up in-plant railway sidings at Hansalpur and Manesar manufacturing plants," he added.

Maruti Suzuki India was India's first automobile manufacturer to get an Automobile Freight Train Operator (AFTO) license back in 2013. This permitted the company to fabricate and operate high-speed, high-capacity auto-wagon rakes on the network of railways. Currently, the automaker has 41 railway rakes, with each rake that comes with a capacity of over 300 vehicles.