The biggest private railcar lessor in India, GATX India Pvt. Ltd., has partnered with Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd., a Miniratna I Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Through this partnership, GATX will lease three BFNS 22.9-ton rakes to Balmer Lawrie for the purpose of transporting completed steel products over a distance of 1,000 kilometers from Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), namely the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP).
Adhip Nath Palchaudhuri, the chairman and managing director (CMD) of Balmer Lawrie, as well as other company directors and senior executives, attended the signing event, which took place on November 11 at the firm’s Kolkata headquarters. Saurabh Sood, President and Managing Director of GATX India Pvt. Ltd., and Robert Clair Lyons, President and CEO of GATX Corporation, were in attendance on behalf of GATX.
With the signing of its first contract with SAIL in September 2024, this deal represents a component of Balmer Lawrie’s recent foray into rail logistics. Balmer Lawrie hopes to take advantage of India’s rising need for rail-based logistics services by collaborating with GATX. Balmer Lawrie’s debut into the rail freight market under Indian Railways’ Liberalized Special Freight Train Operator (LSFTO) Scheme would be supported by the new rail rakes, which will make it easier to carry steel products efficiently.
As part of the National Rail Plan 2030, which intends to raise the proportion of rail in India’s freight transportation to 45%, the company also intends to enter the bulk chemical and caustic soda transportation market.
