Kolkata, Jun 12 (IANS): JSW Cement, a part of the $12 billion JSW Group, on Tuesday said it has inaugurated a railway siding to cater to incoming and outgoing cargo of 2.4 million tonne per annum cement manufacturing unit at West Bengal's Salboni.

The 6.5-km railway siding will connect the manufacturing unit to the main rail line between Godapiasal and Salboni.

"Railway siding at Salboni is built with provision of tipplers for unloading of raw materials and mechanical loading of cement bags for the finished product. In cement business, logistics accounts for 30-35 per cent of the cement cost and to be cost effective, we are continuously working on various levers to reduce this cost," said company's Managing Director Parth Jindal.

The rail yard inside the plant has five lines running parallel and connected to each other.

Of the five lines, two are dedicated for unloading and connected with wagon tipplers for mechanised unloading within 5 hours, another two lines are kept for loading of cement onto the wagon in a mechanized manner within seven hours and the fifth line is for engine reversal.

This siding is designed to handle incoming and outgoing cargo simultaneously and plan is to handle two rakes a day for incoming raw material and one rake per day for outward dispatch, the cement maker added.