R. ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, JULY 5
With a view to tap the freight traffic potential arising out of the three month long COVID-19 lockdown, the Southern Zone of the Indian Railway has established a dedicated Business Development Units (BDU) at Zonal as well as Divisional levels. The BDUs have been established as per the directions of the Railway Board, a release issued here on Sunday said.
Business Development Unit set up in SR. Similar Units being set up at 6 divisions of S Rly @DrmChennai @SalemDRM @DRMTPJ @drmmadurai @TVC138 @propgt14 @ccmsrly @COMSRly pic.twitter.com/ynuqjCcXEm
— Southern Railway (@GMSRailway) July 5, 2020
The BDUs were established at zonal and divisional-levels of the railways with focus on bringing it closer to industry and trade. The move would also give an opportunity to increase the share of railways in transportation of non-bulk goods, among others, a press release said.
According to the release, the primary focus of these units will be to bring public sector major closer to Industry and Trade as well as increasing the Railway’s share in the transportation needs of various sectors including non-bulk goods traffic.
The BDUs will basically facilitate Industry and Trade representatives as well as Rail freight customers to get in touch with Railways at appropriate zonal as well as divisional levels and to have expeditious clearance of their proposals for freight movement, which will benefit both the Industry as well as Railways.
The Southern Railway General Manager John Thomas has established a Business Development Unit at the Zonal Level. The unit will have Senior Officials from the concerned departments.
Sreekumar, Chief Freight Transportation Manager(CFTM) will be the Convener and R. Senthilkumar, Chief Commercial Manager (Freight Marketing) (CCMFM), S. Krishnamoorthy, Financial Advisor & Chief Accounts Officer /Traffic and P. Suresh, Chief Rolling Stock Engineer will be its members.
Contact details of the officials of BDUs are
- Sreekumar, CFTM Mob: 9003160901, cftm@sr.railnet.gov.in
- Senthilkumar, CCM/FM Mob: 9003160952, ccmfm@sr.railnet.gov.in
- Krishnamoorthy, FA&CAO/T Mob: 9003060102, facaot@sr.railnet.gov.in
- Suresh, CRSE /Mob: 9003160402, crse@sr.railnet.gov.in,
The Committee will initiate necessary steps to attract new streams of traffic duly interacting with Trade and Industry at frequent intervals, to understand the existing pattern of goods transportation and explore the possibility of attracting additional freight traffic to railways, the release said.
The BDU will also serve as a nodal point for speedy operationalization of new traffic proposals after due analysis. Assistance from other Zonal Railways or guidance from Railway Board will be taken if necessary. Similar Business Development Units are also being formed in all the Six Divisions of Southern Railway – Chennai, Salem, Tiruchchirappalli, Madurai, Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram, with the Senior Divisional Operating Managers being the Coordinators and the Sr Divisional Commercial Manager, Sr Divisional Finance Manager, and the Sr Divisional Mechanical Engineers being the members of the Divisional BDUs.
Southern Railway serves six Ports and several Cement Plants apart from major Thermal Power Stations, Steel Plants and other major industries. The Railway has introduced a slew of policy initiatives in order to attract rail freight traffic, and is committed to working with the industry in formulating policies that can be more tailored to suit specific industry needs. The Business Development Units of both the zone as well as the divisions will be in touch with all stake holders over the next few weeks to cash-in-on the prevailing and favourable situation due to COVID-19, the release added.
