By IANS
New Delhi : The rail freight rates for petrol and diesel are now down by 5 percent.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad yadav made this announcement while presenting the Railway Budget for 2008-09.
“With the rationalisation of freight structures, freight rates for petrol and diesel would be further reduced by about 5 percent,” said Prasad while unveiling the budget Tuesday.
“The freight rates for these commodities will thus be brought down by 17 percent in three years,” he added.
As a special incentive for the Merry-Go-Round System for transporting coal to pithead-located power plants, the railway minister announced that a lump sum rate of about Rs.25 per tonne would be charged for loading of cargo rakes for a distance of 30 km.
He also announced 14 percent reduction in the freight rates for fly ash generated by coal-fired power plants.