Railways registers record sale in scrap in 2020-21

Despite struggling big income losses in its core passenger phase because of the coronavirus disaster, the railways appears to have hit pay filth in its earnings from the sale of scrap, registering its highest ever income of ₹4,575 crore beneath this head in 2020-21, an RTI question has discovered.

The earlier finest scrap-sale worth was ₹4,409 crore in 2010-2011.

In the Indian Railways, scrap supplies are generated primarily by the use of laying new tracks, changing previous tracks into new ones, abandoning previous constructions, promoting previous locomotives, coaches and wagons, promoting previous surplus or condemned diesel locomotives as a result of speedy electrification of routes and waste supplies generated by workshops. This has been a major income for the nationwide transporter through the years.

In a reply to a question filed beneath the Right of Information (RTI) Act by Madhya Pradesh-based Chandra Shekhar Gaur, the Railway Board has mentioned the income from scrap gross sales throughout the Covid pandemic-affected 2020-21 was 5 per cent greater than the earlier 12 months.

The income from the sale of varied kinds of scrap materials was ₹4,333 crore in 2019-2020 and it was ₹4,575 crore in 2020-21, it has mentioned.

The railways has additionally labored in direction of making the scrap gross sales extra accessible and clear. All the auctions and cash transactions in the railways are being achieved electronically, which eliminates possibilities of corruption in scrap gross sales and makes the system clear and accessible to all of the stakeholders, a spokesperson for the nationwide transporter mentioned.

The railways carried out 100% e-auctions via auction-conducting officers in divisions and retailer depots. Scraps are offered in tons and these tons are fashioned by the segregation of the same nature of things equivalent to ferrous, non-ferrous, rails, monitor objects, PSC sleepers, locomotives, wagons, coaches and so on.

“During FY 2020-21, a scrap sale of ₹4,575 crore was achieved by the Indian Railways against the Railway Board’s target of ₹4,000 crore. This was the highest-ever scrap sale figure achieved by the Indian Railways. This is about 14% higher than the set target and about five per cent higher than the scrap sale figure of the previous financial year. This figure was achieved despite the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020-21 and almost nil sale activity in the first quarter of 2020-21. The scrap sale got momentum, especially during the last quarter of 2020-21, with the highest level of cooperation among the departments concerned in the zonal railways and not only the target was achieved, but it was surpassed. Zonal railway wise, the highest figure of ₹491 crore was achieved by the Western Railway,” the spokesperson mentioned.

Officials mentioned for FY 2021-22, a scrap sale goal of ₹4,100 crore has been fastened by the Railway Board. Despite the impact on sale actions because of the second wave of COVID-19 throughout the first quarter, a cumulative scrap sale of ₹444 crore has been achieved as on June 20.