State-owned Container Corp. of India entered a joint venture arrangement with NYK Line India, the local arm of Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, to handle automobile movements by rail.
The new venture, equally owned by both companies, plans to provide end-to-end transportation services to automakers, using specially-designed freight wagons.
The move is aimed at lowering transportation costs to remain competitive with road transport operators that dominate the market.
According to current indications, the company will initially cover the Delhi-Chennai sector, targeting the traffic moved by Maruti Suzuki, part of Suzuki Motors, and Hyundai Motor Company.
Concor, an offshoot of Indian Railways, is the largest intermodal logistics provider in the country, with a network of nearly 60 inland depots. It enjoyed a total monopoly in container rail operations until the central government issued licenses to private operators in 2006.
Tokyo-based NYK Line, which operates a fleet of over 100 car carriers, recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Mundra Port, a privately-owned cargo hub on the west coast, to develop a dedicated terminal for automobile exports.
Currently, vehicle exports largely move through the Ports of Chennai and Mumbai, while Mundra recently started handling fortnightly calls of vessels operated by Nissan Motor Carrier Co. for transporting Suzuki shipments to Europe.
The new venture, equally owned by both companies, plans to provide end-to-end transportation services to automakers, using specially-designed freight wagons.
The move is aimed at lowering transportation costs to remain competitive with road transport operators that dominate the market.
According to current indications, the company will initially cover the Delhi-Chennai sector, targeting the traffic moved by Maruti Suzuki, part of Suzuki Motors, and Hyundai Motor Company.
Concor, an offshoot of Indian Railways, is the largest intermodal logistics provider in the country, with a network of nearly 60 inland depots. It enjoyed a total monopoly in container rail operations until the central government issued licenses to private operators in 2006.
Tokyo-based NYK Line, which operates a fleet of over 100 car carriers, recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Mundra Port, a privately-owned cargo hub on the west coast, to develop a dedicated terminal for automobile exports.
Currently, vehicle exports largely move through the Ports of Chennai and Mumbai, while Mundra recently started handling fortnightly calls of vessels operated by Nissan Motor Carrier Co. for transporting Suzuki shipments to Europe.