July 21, 2020: The pandemic has forced Indian Railways to innovate its business model and look for new streams of traffic through its zonal units. A case in point is the move by Palakkad division of southern railways to transport refined palm oil from Panambur station to Lucknow. KAMCO power tillers have also been sent from Palakkad station to northeastern states.
South Central Railways has run first of its kind international parcel trains carrying dried red chillies from Guntur to Bangladesh. To aid the process zonal and divisional railways have set up business development units (BDU). BDUs cater to transportation needs of various sectors such as non-bulk goods, finished goods, manufactured goods, agri-produce and raw material.
Source: The Hindu