Railways face a Rs 2,000-cr scrap dilemma

The railways have lost nearly Rs 2,000 crore waiting for Laloo Prasad Yadav’s much-vaunted Chhapra factory — which was to use recy...

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The railways have lost nearly Rs 2,000 crore waiting for Laloo Prasad Yadav’s much-vaunted Chhapra factory — which was to use recycled scrap to manufacture wheels — to come up.

It is also struggling to find ways of storing thousands of tonnes of metallic waste.

In his 2004-05 budget speech the Railway Minister had said one million tonnes of scrap that are generated each year would no longer be sold but recycled instead to make wheels at the Chhapra factory.

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The idea was to make the railways self-sufficient in the manufacture of wheels and restrict imports — scrap is the main raw material used in making wheels.

However, it will be another two years before the Chhapra factory starts functioning. Laloo Prasad admitted that the factory is not likely to manufacture wheels for another two years.

During this while, a way will be found to store the scrap or at least utilise it. At present the scrap lies in the open, rusting away.

“This was the perfect time for the railways to sell the scrap and get additional funds,” an official said. “With the country facing a steel shortage and the prices going up, the scrap from the replaced rails would have been useful, both for the railways and the country.”

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Steel used in wagons is pedigreed and thought to be among the best quality steels.

However, the Railway Board recently instructed all stores and production units not to sell scrap from rails and wagons as well as other good quality metal waste. Controllers of stores were told to create additional infrastructure for safekeeping large amounts of scrap.