Guwahati, May 7 (IANS) In a concerted effort to enhance the transportation of tea through containerised rail movement, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) held a meeting with key stakeholders of the tea industry on Wednesday.

The meeting, held at the NFR’s Zonal Headquarters in Maligaon, brought together major participants, including logistics operators, tea associations, exporters, and producers.

Assam, which produces roughly 55 per cent of India’s tea, has more than 10 lakh tea workers in the organised sector, working in about 850 big estates. The state produces nearly 160 million kilograms of export-oriented tea annually.

NFR’s Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that in view of the growing demand for efficient logistics support, this initiative aims to promote greater movement of tea consignments via rail-based containerised services. Such services offer multiple advantages, including cost-effectiveness, reliability, faster transit, reduced handling losses, and environmentally sustainable transportation, he said. According to the official, the NFR has been consistently working towards strengthening freight infrastructure and developing customer-oriented logistics solutions to meet the evolving requirements of the tea industry across the Northeast region and adjoining areas.

During the meeting, senior railway officials, representatives of the tea industry, logistics operators, and other stakeholders deliberated on various measures to improve rail connectivity, operational coordination, and container handling facilities for tea transportation.

Discussions also focused on strategies to attract higher volumes of tea traffic to the railways by ensuring efficient, seamless, and customer-friendly logistics services.

NFR has recorded commendable performance in freight operations during the financial year 2025-26, achieving a total freight loading of 11.4 million tonnes (MT), which marks a growth of 6 per cent over the previous financial year. Freight handling operations also showed significant improvement, with unloading increasing by 688 rakes — from 12,346 rakes in FY 2024-25 to 13,034 rakes in FY 2025-26.

Sharma said that to further strengthen freight logistics infrastructure in the region, NFR is actively developing and operationalising modern freight terminals and multimodal cargo handling facilities. New terminals at Sairang in Mizoram and Molvom in Nagaland, along with others, are expected to significantly enhance freight accessibility and connectivity across the Northeastern states.

Additionally, the development of Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals across the zone is boosting capabilities for efficient cargo aggregation, container handling, and first-mile and last-mile connectivity, the CPRO said.

These advancements are creating greater opportunities for industries, including tea producers and exporters, to increasingly adopt rail transportation.

This initiative underscores NFR’s continued commitment to strengthening freight infrastructure, promoting sustainable transportation, and delivering customer-centric logistics solutions to support economic growth and industrial development in the Northeastern region, Sharma pointed out.

–IANS

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