The Indian Railways registered a 1.68 per cent growth in originating freight loading to 1,617.38 million tonnes in the 2024-25 fiscal against 1,590.68 million tonnes in 2023-24, the rail ministry said on Tuesday.

“Loading for domestic coal registered a growth of 7.4 per cent whereas domestic containers recorded a growth of 19.72 per cent. Fertiliser loading recorded a growth of 1.25 per cent while petroleum, oil, and lubricants loading witnessed an increase of 0.61 per cent,” it said in a statement.

“In terms of loading achieved by zonal railways, Eastern Railway achieved a growth of 16.11 per cent while South East Central Railway showed a growth of 7.28 per cent. Northeast Frontier Railway registered an upward trend with 4.21 per cent growth,” it added.

Other zones such as Northern Railway, East Central Railway and South Central Railway continued the trend with growths of 3.89 per cent, 2.82 per cent and 2.14 per cent, respectively.

Due to impressive loading of coal by the Indian Railways, stock at power houses reached 57 million tonnes, the ministry said. “The Railways is crucial for transporting bulk commodities which are essential for industry and energy — coal for power plants; iron ore and finished steel for manufacturing and construction; foodgrains for national distribution; fertilisers for agriculture, and petroleum products for transportation and other purposes,” said Dilip Kumar, executive director for information and publicity at the Railway Board.

“For long distances and bulk goods, rail transport has been more economical than road transport. This helps reduce overall logistics costs for businesses, making Indian goods more competitive domestically and internationally,” he further said.

Kumar added the Railways linked mines, factories, agricultural regions and ports with markets across the country, enabling seamless supply chains.