Konkan Railway may run Ro-Ro train service to ferry cars if adequate demand: Official
Mumbai (PTI): The Konkan Railway will explore the possibility of running a special roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) train service for transporting cars during the upcoming Ganapti festival, if there is sufficient public demand, a top official said.
It will be possible to operate such a service if there are at least 40 cars to be transported at a time, Konkan Railway Corporation Limited's Chairman and Managing Director Santosh Kumar Jha told reporters at the KRCL headquarters at Belapur in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday.
Asked why the KR does not transport passenger cars by its pioneering Ro-Ro services during the Ganpati festival, Jha said they will have to make changes for ferrying cars on wagons.
The Konkan Railway's Ro-Ro service, which allows vehicles to be transported along with their drivers, has traditionally been used for trucks.
"I promise you that this time in Ganpati I will announce a special train (Ro-Ro)," Jha said.
The official said he did not know people would want to transport their expensive cars 750 km away.
It takes 24 to 26 hours to reach Mangaluru (in Karnataka) by Ro-Ro from here and for that one has to buy a second class ticket from the driver.
Highlighting that KR is not a loss-making corporation, Jha said it generated a net profit of Rs 301 crore in 2023-24. As per unpublished reports, the corporation is expected to register a profit of Rs 140-150 crore in the last financial year.
"The Konkan Railway was always in profit, barring two years of COVID-19," Jha said, adding the KR is generating profits from the operations and execution of projects.
The corporation got projects valued at Rs 3,150 crore through tendering processes in the last 15 months and is already executing works of Rs 4,087 crore, the official said.
"About Rs 7,200 crore of work orders are already in my hand and this year, we have targeted to get Rs 15,000 crore of orders. I have full faith that we will achieve this target," Jha said.
The KR has planned to spend Rs 125 crore for various passengers amenities, including platform extension, construction of FOBs (foot overbridges) and providing retiring rooms, at railway stations in the next three years, he said.
The Public Works Department of Maharashtra has spent Rs 99 crore for the development of 11 stations on the KR network. Now, the MIDC is spending Rs 39 crore on Ratnagiri station alone for providing facilities, he said.
"You will see a full facelift of the Ratnagiri station before this year-end," the official said.
Also, the KR has sent a proposal to the Railway Board for the restoration of eight halts which were discontinued during the COVID-19 time, he said.
The official further said the entire Konkan Railway route is currently single line, except for a 47-km-long section, and they have proposed patch doubling works, estimated to cost Rs 5,100 crores, but these works need ministerial help.
At present, the Konkan Railway has about Rs 2,750 crore loan to repay and the corporation has planned to clear Rs 600 crore dues of it during this financial year, he said.
Jha also said they have proposed alternatives for Pernem and Old Goa tunnel construction and the work has received an in-principle approval, but function allocation is awaited.
The tunnels are not unstable, he added.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
