BL reported that the Indian Railways has decided to extend the distance based discounts of up to 50% for iron ore for export traffic.
In early November 2008, the Railways had announced reductions of 10% to 50% in freight charges for long distance iron ore export traffic, the discounts were valid till December 31st.
For the South East Central Railway, South Western Railway and West Central Railway, the discounts have been extended till March 31st. For the South Eastern Railway, the discount has been extended till January 31st.
In November 2008, the Railways had seen a 52% drop in loadings of iron ore for exports against the corresponding period the previous fiscal and a 58% drop in net tonne kilometer. NTKM is a performance parameter that measures both loading and distance.
In September, the Railways had seen a 33% drop in loadings of iron ore for exports and a 48% drop in NTKM. In August, the Railways had seen 18% drop in loadings of iron ore exports and 31% drop in NTKM.
Source Business Line