Maruti Suzuki eyes 35% rail dispatch share by FY31: CEO Hisashi Takeuchi

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) on Thursday said it dispatched a record 518,157 vehicles via railways in 2024–25 (FY25), registering a 15.7 per cent year-on-year increase as the country’s largest carmaker continued to scale up its use of low-emission transport.

 

Rail dispatches accounted for 24.3 per cent of the company’s total vehicle dispatches in FY25, up from 21.5 per cent in FY24. Maruti Suzuki's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Hisashi Takeuchi on Thursday announced the company aims to increase this share to 35 per cent by FY31, as part of its broader strategy to reduce carbon emissions and ease road congestion. 

   

“Reducing carbon emissions is a top priority for us, both in our products and in our operations... By FY 2030–31, we plan to increase the share of vehicle dispatches through railways to 35 per cent,” he mentioned in a statement.

 

The increased use of rail helped avoid over 180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions and saved more than 63 million litres of fuel during FY25, the company noted. Rail transport is significantly more energy-efficient and environment-friendly compared to road transport.

 

Since FY15, MSIL’s cumulative vehicle dispatches through railways have grown nearly eight-fold, reaching around 2.4 million units. The company currently operates over 40 flexi-deck rakes, each capable of carrying approximately 300 vehicles per trip.

 

At present, MSIL uses rail to move cars to over 20 hubs across India, which in turn cater to more than 600 cities. It also uses rail connectivity to move vehicles to the export ports of Mundra and Pipavav. 

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in January 2024 inaugurated India’s first in-plant railway siding for automobiles at MSIL’s manufacturing facility in Gujarat. This infrastructure enables vehicles to be loaded directly from the factory onto trains, cutting down transit time and truck traffic.

 

MSIL was the first automaker in India to obtain an Automobile Freight Train Operator (AFTO) licence in 2013, giving it greater flexibility and control over rail-based vehicle movement.