Maruti Suzuki 1st automaker to send 2 mn vehicles via Indian Railways towards 'green logistics'

New Delhi: In a bid to help the government towards its net zero emissions target by 2070, Maruti Suzuki India on Monday said it surpassed 2 million cumulative vehicle dispatches using Railways as part of its ‘green logistics’ goals.

The company has rapidly scaled up its vehicle dispatches through Railways from 65,700 units in FY 2014-15 to 447,750 units in FY 2023-24.

The feat makes Maruti Suzuki India’s first automobile company to attain this eco-milestone.

Today, the company dispatches vehicles to 20 destinations, serving over 450 cities using Indian Railways.

“Through our sustained efforts in green logistics, we have achieved outstanding results including cumulative reduction of 10,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions and 270 million litres of cumulative fuel savings,” said Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Limited.

With the automaker’s production capacity nearly doubling from about 2 million units to 4 million units by FY2030-31, “we plan to augment the use of Railways in vehicle dispatches, close to 35 per cent over the next 7-8 years,” Takeuchi 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.

This facility has a capacity to dispatch 300,000 vehicles per annum.

The next in-plant railway siding is in progress at the Manesar facility and will be operational soon, according to the company.

“We stand committed to the government of India’s net zero emissions target by 2070,” Takeuchi added.