BSL has tied up with Texmaco Rail & Engineering to acquire 6 rakes (Box N HL) under GPWIS (General Purpose Wagon Investment Scheme) approved by the Railways. The flag-off of the first rake procured by BSL under this agreement was done by Amarendu Prakash, Director-in-Charge, BSL . On this occasion, the Executive Director of BSL, Chief General Manager and senior officers of the Traffic Department were present.
The cost of this project of Bokaro Steel Plant is about Rs 110 crore. These rakes will be operated on the route from Kiriburu-Meghataburu to Bokaro Steel Plant. BSL will also get 10 per cent rebate from the Railways for 15 years on the transportation of iron ore from these rakes. Thus, BSL is expected to get a discount of about Rs 4 lakh per freight. Apart from this, due to delay in loading and unloading, there will also be savings in payment to railways as demurrage charges.
The color coding of these wagons has been separated from the wagons of the railways and will not be mixed with the wagons of the railways. This facility will also solve the problem of non-availability of rakes and ensure timely transportation of raw material from the mines to the plant.
It is noteworthy that under this project 6 rakes are being provided to Bokaro Steel Plant, 4 rakes to Bhilai Steel Plant and 3 rakes to Durgapur Steel Plant in SAIL. BSL has got the distinction of getting the first rake among them.