Coal India may invest Rs. 5,000 crto procure railway wagons.

Coal India is in talks with the Indian Railways for an investment of Rs. 5,000 crore to procure wagons that carry coal. This could end up being the single largest investment by a railway customer for procuring wagons.

This is the first time that Coal India, which has cash reserves of Rs. 59,000 crore as on September 2014, is investing in railway wagons, though earlier it had invested in rail link infrastructure. For fiscal 2015-16, Coal India has a target of investing Rs. 6,000 crore to ramp up mine infrastructure and railway connectivity.

'The specific terms and conditions of the scheme are being worked out…It entails an investment of Rs. 5,000 crore,' Ajay Shukla, Member-Traffic, Railway Board, told BusinessLine.

'Coal India had approved a plan to acquire 2,000 railway wagons in December, with a total plan to procure 9,500 wagons. While there is no specific design change that has been sought, the 2,000 wagons will be solely used for Coal India's transportation needs,' a senior Coal Ministry official said.

HBL