Freight customers of Railways paid an average 4.38 per cent more in 2010-11 than in 2009-10 to move one tonne cargo over a kilometre.
This helped Indian Railways register an annual 8.17 per cent growth in freight earnings in 2010-11, despite a much lower growth of 3.77 per cent in loadings.
Even the net tonne kilometre (NTKM) growth – a productivity parameter that measures both loading and distance – was at 3.63 per cent during the period.
The Railways extracted the maximum from iron ore exporters by making them pay an average 75.44 per cent more during the year.
The least affected was foodgrain as moving a tonne became dearer by just 0.77 per cent on an average during fiscal 2011.
This data reflect the annual trend in freight charges. The Railways increased charges particularly towards the last quarter of fiscal 2011 when it was lagging behind in meeting theearnings target.
MARCH
In March 2011, freight customers of the Railways paid an average 9.3 per cent higher amount year-on-year.
Iron ore exporters paid 120.25 per cent more in March 2011 to move a tonne of cargo over a kilometre compared to the corresponding period last fiscal.
Other freight customers who contributed to Railways' earnings by paying more to get the same job done include fertilisers (8.1 per cent), cement (6.74 per cent), domestic containers (14.95 per cent), raw material for steel plant except iron ore (5.55 per cent), pig iron and finished steel (6.38 per cent) and mineral oil (5.17 per cent).
The Railways loaded 921.51 million tonnes of cargo in 2010-11, earning Rs 62,299.81 crore.