According to a top company official, passenger car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India transported more than 3.2 lakh vehicles through Indian Railway in 2022 and is currently constructing dedicated rail sidings at its facilities in Gujarat and Haryana (Manesar).The amount of vehicles the company transported using rail waggons in 2017 was over 3.2 lakh, the most since the company obtained its Automobile Freight Train Operator (AFTO) licence in 2013. "Going forward, we aim to further increase these numbers. For this, we are setting up dedicated railway sidings at our facilities in Haryana (Manesar) and Gujarat", said Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director & CEO.

"Aligned with the Government of India's aim to reach net zero emissions by 2070, we have enhanced our efforts to reduce carbon footprint in our business operations. Our strategy to increase the use of rail mode in outbound logistics has resulted in dispatching record 3.2 lakh vehicles using railways in CY2022", he said. According to

him, the use of railway wagons instead of trucks has resulted in offsetting around 1,800 MT of CO2 emissions.

"In addition, we have been able to save over 50 million litres of fuel during the year which contributes to enhancing the energy security of our country", Takeuchi remarked. The percentage of Maruti Suzuki vehicles that are transported by railroads is increasing; in the most recent calendar year, it was 17.1 percent, up from 13.9 percent/2.2 lakh units in 2021.

Maruti suzuki is now able to manufacture and run highcapacity,highspeed autowagon rakes on the indian railways network thanks to the afto licence

“Maruti Suzuki is now able to manufacture and run highcapacity, high-speed autowagon rakes on the Indian Railways network, thanks to the AFTO licence. Maruti Suzuki transports vehicles across the nation using 40 specially made railway rakes. Over 300 vehicles can fit on each rake at once. The company currently uses 18 destination terminals, including loading terminals in Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Guwahati, Mundra Port, Bangalore, Nagpur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Delhi-NCR, Siliguri, Coimbatore, Pune, Agartala, Silchar, Ranchi, and Ludhiana”, said Maruti Suzuki.