Maruti Suzuki plans to transport 35% of vehicles via Railways in next 7-8 Years

Maruti Suzuki India is planning to use Indian Railways to transport 35% of its vehicles over the next 7-8 years, its MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said on Monday. The company has already increased its vehicle shipments by rail from 5% in 2014-15 to 21.5% in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The country's largest carmaker increased its vehicle dispatches by rail from 65,700 units in 2014-15 to 447,750 units in 2023-24.

"With our production capacity nearly doubling from about 2 million units to 4 million units by FY 2030-31, we plan to augment the use of railways in vehicle dispatches, close to 35 per cent over the next 7-8 years," Takeuchi stated.

Maruti Suzuki has transported over 2 million vehicles using Indian Railways. The company delivers cars to 20 destinations, reaching over 450 cities through the rail network.

Takeuchi mentioned that over a decade ago, Maruti Suzuki became the first company in India to get the Automobile-Freight-Train-Operator license, pioneering the use of railways for vehicle dispatches. Since then, the company has steadily increased its use of railways for transporting vehicles.

"Through our sustained efforts in green logistics, we have achieved outstanding results including cumulative reduction of 10,000 metric tonne of CO2 emissions and 270 million litre of cumulative fuel savings," Takeuchi noted.

The company is dedicated to achieving the country's net zero emissions target by 2070, Takeuchi added. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the country's first in-plant railway siding at Maruti Suzuki's Gujarat facility under the PM Gati Shakti programme. This facility can dispatch 300,000 vehicles per year.

Maruti Suzuki announced that the next in-plant railway siding is being constructed at its Manesar facility and will be operational soon.