Southern Railway has inaugurated a mechanised clinker loading facility at the Kallakudi Palanganatham railway siding in Tamil Nadu, establishing a rail freight link between Dalmia Cement’s Dalmiapuram plant and Meenatchi Cement Works. The facility was inaugurated by Southern Railway General Manager U. Subba Rao on November 12, 2026, who also flagged off the first consignment to the Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal at Nalli in the Madurai division.
The new facility is expected to add approximately 700,000 tonnes to Southern Railway’s annual freight loading. It is projected to handle between 50,000 and 60,000 tonnes of clinker every month, generating around ₹28.8 crore in additional annual freight revenue.
The loading point at Kallakudi Palanganatham falls under the Tiruchirappalli division, while the receiving terminal at Nalli is in the Madurai division. The mechanised facility has been installed at an existing industrial siding that has served Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited’s Dalmiapuram plant since May 28, 1963. The plant has an annual cement production capacity of four million tonnes.
The Tiruchirappalli division expects the new facility to strengthen industry-railway partnerships and provide a reliable logistics channel for bulk clinker movement. The additional freight traffic is also expected to contribute to Indian Railways’ Mission 3000 target of handling 3,000 million tonnes of freight.
Balak Ram Negi, Divisional Railway Manager, Tiruchirappalli division, and S. T. Ramalingam, Chief Freight Transportation Manager, Southern Railway, were among the officials present at the inauguration, along with representatives of Dalmia Cement.
