Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR) is an Indian

public sector undertaking A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

which is engaged in transportation and handling of containers. Incorporated in March 1988 under the Companies Act, CONCOR commenced operations in November 1989 taking over an existing network of seven inland container depots (ICDs) from

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

History

Indian Railway's strategic initiative to containerise cargo transport put India on the

intermodal freight transport Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation (e.g., rail, ship, aircraft, and truck), without any handling of the freight itself when changing ...

map for the first time in 1966. Given India's size (almost from North to South and East to West), rail transport is often a cheaper option for all cargo over medium and long distances, especially if the cost of inter-modal transfers can be reduced. Seeing that containerised multi-modal door-to-door transport provided a solution to this problem, in 1966 Indian Railways entered the market for moving door-to-door domestic cargo in special DSO containers. Although the first

ISO container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – from ship ...

in India had been handled in

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

as early as 1973, it was not until 1981 that the first ISO container was moved inland by Indian Railways to the country's first ICD at

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, also managed by the Indian Railways. Expansion of the network to seven ICDs by 1988 saw an increase in container handling capacity, while along the way a strong view emerged that there was a need to set up a separate pro-active organisation to promote and manage the growth of containerisation in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. CONCOR is one of the Indian Public Sector Undertakings that is currently under consideration for privatisation. The privatisation process, which involves the

Indian Government The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

selling 30.8% out of its shareholding of 54.8%, was initially projected to be completed in the fiscal year 2021-2022, but has since been delayed to the next fiscal year. In April 2022, the Indian Government reduced Indian Railways' land licensing fee from 6% to 3% of the land's market value, which was done to assist the company's privatisation.

Core Business

CONCOR operates three core businesses:

cargo carrier A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

;

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devi ...

operator, warehouse operator & MMLP operation.

References

External links

Container Corporation of India Ltd. (CONCOR) Official WebsiteReport on the Indian Logistics Industry, May 2012 - Dinodia Capital Advisors
{{authority control 1988 establishments in Delhi Companies based in Delhi Companies established in 1988 Railway companies of India Rail freight transport in India Government-owned companies of India Logistics companies of India Foreign trade of India Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange