Title - Pristine Logistics to set up four private freight terminals

Pristine Logistics is the latest to queue up for setting up private freight terminals (PFT) in Indore, Ludhiana, Patna and Cuttack.The Railway Board already has close to 35 proposals from 22 companies for setting up PFTs. The companies include Concor, Kribhco Rail Infrastructure, Lloyd Steel and Hind Terminals, amongst others.In PFT business — rights of which are given by the Railways — operators are allowed to handle various types of goods for the Railways, roads and various value-added services. To become PFT operators, companies have to pay Rs 2 crore to the Railways, out of which Rs 1 crore is paid back after the notification.The size of each of Pristine’s private freight terminals would be about 50 acres and land has been acquired by the company. The company has received Rs 60-crore investment from India Infrastructure Development Fund of UTI Capital recently.“Pristine’s PFT projects are greenfield in nature and in about a year, three of these parks — Indore, Ludhiana, and Patna — will start operations,” Amit Kumar, Director, Pristine Logistics, said. The terminals will handle commodities such as cement, foodgrain, and pulses, Kumar said.Pristine Logistics is a start-up backed by Amit Kumar, Rajnish Kumar, and Sanjay Mawar. Both Amit and Rajnish were earlier in railway traffic service, and have worked in Container Corporation of India and Gateway Distriparks Ltd, the private container train operator, before starting this venture.According to Railways’ policy, brownfield PFT operators have to share 50 per cent of cargo handling revenue or Rs 20 a tonne — whichever is higher — with the Railways, after two years of operation; while greenfield PFT operators have to share the same five years after commencing operations.The Railways asks for this revenue share because it provides access to its over 65,000-km network. Moreover, business of PFTs is expected to increase by offering rail-based transportation services.