Maruti Suzuki sees green logistics milestone with 2 mn vehicle dispatches via railways

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) has reaffirmed its commitment to green logistics by surpassing the landmark of two million cumulative vehicle dispatches using Indian Railways. This achievement makes Maruti Suzuki the first automobile company in India to reach this significant eco-milestone.

The company has significantly increased its vehicle dispatches through railways, from 65,700 units in FY 2014-15 to 447,750 units in FY 2023-24. Railways provide a congestion-free, safer, and energy-efficient alternative to road transportation. Currently, Maruti Suzuki dispatches vehicles to twenty destinations, serving over 450 cities via Indian Railways.

Maiden effort

Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director & CEO of Maruti Suzuki India Limited said: “Maruti Suzuki pioneered the use of railways for vehicle dispatches over a decade ago by becoming the first company in India to obtain the Automobile-Freight-Train-Operator license. Since then, we have systematically increased our share of vehicle dispatches using railways,” 

“Through our sustained efforts in green logistics, we have achieved outstanding results, including a cumulative reduction of approximately 10,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions and around 270 million liters of cumulative fuel savings,” said Takeuchi. 

As per Takeuchi, with Maruti Suzuki’s production capacity nearly doubling from about two million units to four million units by FY 2030-31, it plans to increase the use of railways in vehicle dispatches to nearly 35 per cent  over the next seven to eight years. “We are committed to supporting the Government of India’s Net Zero emissions target by 2070, ” Takeuchi further added. 

Earlier this year, under the PM Gati Shakti programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first automobile in-plant railway siding at Maruti Suzuki’s Gujarat facility, which has the capacity to dispatch approximately 300,000 vehicles per annum. The next in-plant railway siding is in progress at the Manesar facility and will be operational soon. Utilizing Indian Railways for vehicle dispatches aligns with the objectives of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal #13, focused on climate action.