New Delhi, June 5: Maruti Suzuki India Limited dispatched a record number of 5.18 lakh vehicles through Indian Railways in the financial year 2024-25, as part of its commitment to strengthen green logistics, according to a company statement issued on Thursday.
Maruti Suzuki currently dispatches vehicles to more than 20 hubs using railways, from where over 600 cities across India are served. Port locations of Mundra and Pipavav, used by the company for exports, are also served using railways.
The major advantage of railways is that it offers a low-emission and energy-efficient mode of transportation. Besides, it also helps to ease road congestion. On the milestone, Maruti Suzuki Managing Director and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said: “Reducing carbon emissions is a top priority for us, both in our products and in our operations. Maruti Suzuki was the first company in India to obtain an Automobile-Freight-Train-Operator license in 2013. Since then, we have dispatched nearly 24 lakh vehicles through rail mode. By FY 2030-31, we plan to increase the share of vehicle dispatches through railways to 35 per cent.”
Since FY 2014-15, Maruti Suzuki vehicle dispatches through railways have grown by nearly 8 times. In 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first automobile in-plant railway siding at the Gujarat manufacturing facility of the company.
Currently, Maruti Suzuki operates over 40 flexi deck rakes, each with a capacity of carrying around 300 vehicles per trip, the company statement said. The 24 lakh (2.4 million) vehicles dispatched by Maruti Suzuki cumulatively through railways since FY 2014-15, have helped to avoid over 1.8 lakh tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emission and saved more than 630 lakh (63 million) litres of fuel, it added.
Meanwhile, the cargo carried by Indian Railways has increased from 1,055 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 1,617 million tons in 2024-25, making it the second largest cargo carrying railway in the world. Using the computations done by experts, this shift of cargo from road to rail has helped the country save over 143 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, which is the equivalent of planting 121 crore trees.
IANS