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00:00All right, welcome back.
00:15We are in conversation with Umesh Chaudhary, the Vice-Chairman and MD of Titagarh Rail
00:20Systems and well, Umesh, good morning and thank you so much for joining in.
00:25Well, you know, the reason why we also wanted you today was not just the business outlook
00:31but also an idea about what the entire sector can expect now that we have the cabinet in
00:38place and the big news is as far as the current government is concerned is that there seems
00:44to be continuity at least in terms of their own plans because the ministers remain the
00:51same.
00:53Even in terms of the railway ministry, we have a continuation there and that's always
00:57a positive specifically because your own company also belongs to that sector.
01:02Your reading, your understanding of the current policies, all that you foresee that could
01:08come through over the span of the next five years with respect to this government?
01:13Yeah, good morning, thank you for having me with you.
01:17So absolutely, we are very excited, very exuberant that the continuity remains, particularly,
01:25you know, in the Modi 2.0 but also Modi 1.0, the railway has been a thrust sector.
01:32But if we really look at what has happened to the railway as a sector over the last couple
01:36of years under the current railway minister, Minister Vaishnav, it has been transformational.
01:43I don't think that there are, you can actually say that there has been a growth, there has
01:49been a transformation, this would be a more appropriate phrase to use.
01:54And I always believe that this journey which has started is just about begun because we've
02:00heard the different speeches of the prime minister himself but also the railway minister
02:06speaking about ideas like weightless free travel, like increasing the modal share of
02:15the freight to almost 50% compared to the other modes of logistics, bringing down the
02:23overall cost of logistics from the current 14% to a single digit.
02:27So all of this means that railway has to be in the epicenter of a lot of action.
02:34So a lot of policy decisions but a lot of implementation along with those policy decisions.
02:41And this team, they could not have been a better team than this to be able to see this through.
02:47You know, I'm going to take up that bit on the cost of logistics forward because in fact
02:53we've had two marquee investors who spoke to us this very morning about the fact that
02:59the cost of logistics has been brought down to near a single digit.
03:03The question really is that, is there scope for more of this to come through over the
03:08span of the next few years?
03:10Absolutely.
03:11You see, currently the share that the railway has of the overall logistics is still very,
03:19very low.
03:20It's still hovering around 30%.
03:22So the delta from here to 50% is in itself a very large delta that has to be covered.
03:30And it is a no-brainer that for bringing down the cost of logistics, the only option
03:36is to move the cargo away from road and air to rail and water.
03:41With the geographical limitations of water, rail is the only viable mode which can really
03:47help A, environment and B, cost of logistics.
03:50I mean, we all know that railway is almost six times more environment-friendly in terms
03:55of carbon emission and whatnot.
03:59Also the sector, particularly both in terms of the cargo and in terms of the people, railway
04:07is something which very rightly so has been an important part of the vision strategy of
04:16the Honorable Prime Minister and of the current government.
04:20And I believe that somebody like me who has been associated with the railway sector over
04:27the last 30 years has seen the kind of impetus, the kind of momentum that the current Railway
04:34Minister has been able to provide.
04:36It is really phenomenal.
04:37Amisha, you know, in terms of your own business, what kind of growth are you envisaging for
04:44your freight rail system segment?
04:47And what of it when it comes to your passenger rail segment going forward over the next one
04:52year?
04:53So, as far as the freight is concerned, you know, we already touched the mark of 700 wagons
05:00a month on an average.
05:03Last year, we have already announced that we are looking at getting to a thousand wagons
05:06per month.
05:08And the current capacity that we have planned would be around that figure.
05:12And then of course, going forward as the overall market size grows, we will look at further
05:17capacity expansion.
05:19As far as the passenger is concerned, that is a business that is just about starting.
05:25Last year, we did just three to four coaches per month, which was a metro.
05:29Now, our new lines are coming into production.
05:32And ultimately, within the next couple of years, we will have a capacity of producing
05:37almost 850 passenger trains, passenger coaches per year, which will be a mixture of metros
05:45and Vande Bharat.
05:46So, our Vande Bharat will also start production next year.
05:50A quick question on competition at the moment, Umesh.
05:54What can you tell us about the current scenario when it comes to your peers?
05:59I think there is enough in the market.
06:04What is most important is that we should be ahead in the curve, we should be more competitive
06:09than our competitors.
06:10We will be able to get tenders.
06:13In terms of the two segments that we have, whether it's the freight and the passenger,
06:16we have two different completely separate set of competitors.
06:21In the freight wagon, we have been the market leaders.
06:26And in the passenger, there are global companies that we really compete with in the passenger
06:31segment.
06:32If we really look at our business today, we compete with Alstom and VML in the metro coach.
06:39So, both of these companies are well established.
06:43So, on one side, we have the advantage of not having to unlearn what we have to do for
06:49the future.
06:50We are able to implement new ideas, new strategies, set up plans which are much more efficient
06:58and not be straddled with the old legacy equipment.
07:03On the other side, they are very large companies, they are global, Alstom is of the world, etc.
07:08They are very large multinational companies.
07:11So, we believe that we are able to create our niche space in the market by ourselves.
07:19Absolutely.
07:20Well, we'll leave it at that, Ramesh.
07:22Thank you so much for joining us and taking us through your views, of course, not only
07:27on the business, but also on the entire environment.
07:30We look forward to having another conversation soon on The Outlook.
07:34Well, that's the management of Tidagarh Rail Systems telling us about what's in store.
07:39On that note, we've completely run out of time on The F&O Show, but lots more lined
07:44up on the other side.
07:45Stay tuned in.
07:46You're watching NDTV Profit.