Vijayawada, Apr 9 (IANS): The South Central Railway (SCR) zone shipped its first consignment of inter-state fish feed rake to Assam from Gudivada.

A local fish feed company loaded a mini BCN rake of 21 wagons and dispatched it to Changsari, Rangiya division of Northeast Frontier Railway in Assam.

"This is the first ever rake of floating fish feed transported by Vijayawada division to other state. Fish feeds are an important part of modern aquaculture, providing the balanced nutrition needed by farmed fish," said a railway zone official on Thursday.

As many as 1,338 tonnes of neatly packed fish feed in standard dimension bags were loaded in 21 covered wagons, enabling the Vijayawada division to collect a freight of Rs 30 lakh.

Usually, fish feed to Assam is being transported by road at a cost of Rs 7,500 per tonne for a distance of 2,138 km.

The Vijayawada railway division's business development unit (BDU) managed to convince the local company after constant efforts, explaining the benefits of shipment through the railways.

"Cost per tonne through rail transit is approximately Rs 2,125 per tonne, 74 per cent lesser than road transport for almost the same distance," he noted.

Likewise, the railway board permitting mini rakes of 21 wagons beyond 2,000 km has come as an advantage.

"Earlier mini rakes were permitted only up to a distance not more than 1,500 km between different zones. Railway Board has recently relaxed the rules and is now permitting inter-zonal transport of mini rakes beyond 2,000 km till June 21, 2021 to attract more freight customers and increase the freight basket," said the official.