KARACHI, Feb 23: Pakistan Railways has finally agreed to increase the number of trains for export of cement to India by providing daily three trains from the existing three trains weekly from Lahore to Wahga.

The number could later be increased to five once the cement manufacturers and exporters furnish their demand to the ministry of railways.

Cement exporters had recently approached the ministry of commerce and sought assistance for increasing the number of cargo trains between Lahore and Wahga for the haulage of cement to India.

Presently, no truck service is available between the two countries because India has yet to develop truck depots and provide necessary infrastructure such as platforms for smooth unloading of cement.

The ministry of commerce approached the Railways authorities upon which it was transpired that the Pakistan Railways would provide additional trains for the haulage of cement to India.

Initially, Railways will provide three trains daily with each having a loading capacity between 1,500 to 2,000 tons and once the cement exporters come up with their demand finally the number would be increased to five per day, official sources said.

The exporters had been demanding for increasing number of cargo trains to facilitate cement exports to India, where strong demand owing to mega infrastructure development projects created cement shortage of around five million tons per annum.

It is a rare opening for Pakistani exporters to slightly improve balance of trade with its big neighbour, which presently stands at 70 to 30 per cent in a bilateral official trade of around $2 billion. Besides, there is a huge unofficial trade of around $3 billion through a third country, which mostly comprise imports by Pakistani businessmen.

Despite the fact that the Indian government in last budget (Feb 2007) had reduced duty on cement import but the first consignment from Pakistan was not possible before October last. According to the exporters most of the time was lost in getting certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and around four to five months were wasted on this exercise.

Even today the cement exporters are faced with a number of problems but insufficient infrastructure and haulage facilities between the two countries is the main hurdle in the way of cement exporters to fully capitalise on the vast Indian market.

A leading cement exporter said due to insufficient road transportation facilities, only 0.6 million tons of cement had been exported to India through the sea route so far. He further said the industry had a capacity to export around 150,000 tons per month provided there are sufficient train and trucking facilities to carry this bulk commodity across the border.

However, cement exporters to India are apprehensive about the train service due to the poor maintenance of rail track from cargo train station in Lahore to the mainline. As a result every second train derails causing long delays and huge financial losses to the exporters.

The exporters have asked the Pakistan Railways to temporarily allow cargo train service for the haulage of cement from Badami Bagh (old railway yard) or Kot Lakhpat yard, which have sound tracks. Only then higher number of trains could help cement exports to India, they added.