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For the first time Indian Railways on July 12, 2020 has loaded special Parcel train beyond the country borders to Benapole in Bangladesh with dry chillies from Andhra Pradesh.
Basic Facts
Guntur and its surrounding areas in Andhra Pradesh are well known for chilli cultivation. The quality of this farm produce is internationally renowned for its uniqueness in taste and brand.
The farmers and merchants in and around Guntur area have been transporting dry chillies by road to Bangladesh in small quantities and that was costing around Rs 7,000 per tonne.
During the lockdown period, they could not move this essential commodity by road.
Accordingly, one Special Parcel Express train consisting of 16 Parcel Van moved to Benapole in Bangladesh. Each Parcel Van was loaded with 466 Dry Chillies bags, weighing around 19.9 Tonnes and the total weight carried by the Special Parcel Express is around 384 Tonnes. The cost per tonne for carrying by Special Parcel Express is Rs. 4,608 and which is very cheap and economical as compared to Road transport which is amounting to Rs. 7,000 per tonne.
The cost per tonne for carrying by Special Parcel Express is only Rs 4,608, which is very cheap and economical as compared to road transport.
This has helped the farmers and merchants of Guntur to market their farm produce beyond the country border by transporting the dry chillies in small quantities through Special Parcel Express.
(Source: PIB)
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