NEW DELHI : The Indian Railways‘ over-dependence on bulk commodities like coal, iron ore and cement is hurting its growth potential and exposing it to the competitive pressure from other modes of freight transportation, a PwC-FICCI report said.

Strategic Opportunities The unreliable services coupled with inflexible routes and poor timeliness are affecting the railways’ potential to grab a bigger market share in the “high-value” non-bulk commodities space, it said.

Even though the rail transport, particularly over long distances, offers inherent cost efficiencies compared with road transport, its infrastructure . . .