Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Monday said it has surpassed two-million cumulative vehicle dispatches using railways, which makes it the first automobile company to attain this eco-milestone in the country.

The company has rapidly scaled up its vehicle dispatches through railways from 65,700 units in fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 to 4,47,750 units in FY2023-24.

Railways offer a congestion free, safer, and energy-efficient alternative to road transportation of vehicles, the company said. MSIL dispatches vehicles to 20 destinations, serving over 450 cities using Indian railways.

“Maruti Suzuki pioneered the use of railways for vehicle dispatches over a decade ago by becoming the first company in India to obtain the Automobile-Freight-Train-Operator license. Since then, the company has systematically increased its share of vehicle dispatches using railways,” Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, MSIL said.

Through its sustained efforts in green logistics, the company has achieved results including cumulative reduction of around 10,000 metric tonne of CO2 emissions and around 270 million litre of cumulative fuel savings, he said.

Earlier this year, under the PM Gati Shakti programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first automobile in-plant railway siding at Maruti Suzuki’s Gujarat facility, he noted.

This facility has a capacity to dispatch around three-lakh vehicles per annum. The next in-plant railway siding is in progress at Manesar facility and will be operational soon. The use of Indian railways for vehicle dispatches supports the objectives of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal #13 focused on climate action, Takeuchi said.

“With our production capacity nearly doubling from about two-million units to four-million units by FY2030-31, we plan to augment the use of railways in vehicle dispatches, close to 35 per cent over the next seven-eight years. We stand committed to the government’s Net zero emissions target by 2070,” he added.

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