Jammu, 31 Oct: With the objective of establishing a highly efficient, cost-effective and fully integrated supply chain system in Jammu and Kashmir, a high-level coordination meeting was held today, on 31st October, between the Directorate of Industries and Commerce, Jammu and the Jammu Division of Northern Railway. This strategic meeting was attended by government officials, railway policy makers and leading industrialists, where a collaborative framework was discussed to modernize the regional logistics infrastructure.
The main agenda of the meeting was to establish a strong and long-term synergy between local manufacturing sectors, the Directorate of Industries and Commerce and the Indian Railways. This partnership has been designed to meet the time-bound targets set under the National Logistics Policy (NLP). The meeting mainly focused on reviewing the existing freight systems, planning future modal shifts and implementing an effective multi-modal connectivity network, so that transit time and total logistics cost for regional businesses can be substantially reduced.
The Indian Railways was represented by *Shri Uchit Singhal, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Jammu Division*, while the Directorate of Industries and Commerce was led by *Dr. Arun Manhas, Director, Industries and Commerce, Jammu*. Both senior officers had direct and transparent interaction with the industrial community, resolved immediate operational issues of traders and prepared a strategic roadmap for future infrastructure expansion.
In this important meeting, the General Managers of District Industries Centres actively participated, including Samba, Kathua, Udhampur and Jammu. The priorities of the industrial sector were strongly put forward by *Shri Tarun Singla, President, Bari Brahmana Industries Association (BBIA)* along with other prominent business stakeholders and logistics operators.
During the meeting, detailed presentations were given on the current and upcoming freight capacities being operated by the Railways. Emphasizing their shared strategy, both departments explained how future cargo terminals, dedicated industrial sidings and paperless digital tracking systems will be integrated with the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, to ensure seamless last-mile connectivity for regional manufacturing hubs.
In this important meeting, on behalf of Northern Railway, Shri Uchit Singhal, Sr. DCM/Jammu Division also highlighted policies related to freight, under which *if any aggregator, trader or logistics service provider makes advance booking of parcel coaches for both directions through JPP-RCS trains, he will have to pay only 1.5 times the normal rate as total round-trip freight.* That is, full freight for one side and a heavy discount of 50 percent on the return trip will be available.
In the same sequence, detailed information was given about the Indian Railways Transhipment Policy.
Continuing this series, the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager also briefed about the *Indian Railways Roll-On/Roll-Off (Ro-Ro) Traffic Policy, which was implemented across the country in *August 2026*. Under this policy, instead of the traditional per-wagon calculation, the freight has been based on a distance-wise tapering per *tonne-km* structure, so that commercial logistics can be made more competitive and transparent.
Under the Ro-Ro service, commercial trucks loaded with goods are directly loaded onto special railway flat wagons. They are then transported over long distances by rail and at the destination the truck is directly unloaded and sent for last-mile delivery. During this, emphasis was also laid on the new policy.
