Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL) today announced the commencement of its first-ever eco-friendly Exports operations through railway mode, with the dispatch of the first consignment of 125 cars to Nepal. The first export consignment was flagged-off by Mr Ganesh Mani S, Director-Production, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, and Mr S Subramanian, Additional Divisional Railway Manager of Southern Railway, from the Walajabad Railway Hub near the Irungattukkottai-based HMIL Production facility outside Chennai.
More details
The train will reach the India-Nepal border at Nautanwa near the border town of Sonauli, from where the last-mile delivery will be through the roadways owing to the topography of Nepal. The overall on-road movement time is expected to reduce from 8 days to 5 days, bringing the cars faster and in an eco-friendly manner to the customers.
As a large exporter of automobiles sending Hyundai cars to over 88 countries, Hyundai surpassed the 3 Million vehicle export milestone earlier in 2020. It has crossed several exports-related milestones in the journey, completing 5 lakh export cars in March 2008, 10 lakh exports in February 2010, 20 lakh cars in March 2014 and 30 lakh cars in January 2020. Hyundai has also established several practices in domestic logistics, using railways (over 14% of the volumes) and waterways to send cars across India from the Irungattukkottai-based production facility.
Official statement
Commenting on this latest initiative in the field of Outbound Logistics, Mr Ganesh Mani S, Director-Production, Hyundai Motor India Ltd said, “Hyundai is committed to eco-friendly initiatives. As a progressive OEM, all our production processes follow Green practices for conservation of natural resources. The zero-wastage of water and using over 70% of renewable energy in the HMI plant has set a benchmark in the industry. To further enhance our initiatives following the global direction of ‘Progress For Humanity’, we have commenced our first-ever eco-friendly Exports operations through Railways by dispatching 125 cars in 25 rakes in this first consignment to Nepal, reducing Carbon footprint by 20 260 tons.”
“Our innovative practices like using coastal shipment for domestic logistics of cars have already been appreciated by the authorities, and we send out over 14% of our Domestic Car volumes by the rail route instead of the road. Our thanks to the Indian Railways for their unstinted support in such innovative practices which will have a long-lasting positive impact on the environment”, Mr Mani further added.