New Delhi, Feb 13: Reinforcing its focus on modernising transport logistics, Jindal Stainless, India’s leading stainless steel manufacturer, has developed the country’s first stainless steel container for salt transport for Indian Railways. The integration of stainless steel into salt transport logistics marks a pioneering step towards more durable and sustainable freight operations. The prototype successfully underwent loading and unloading trials at Bhimasar, Gandhidham, Gujarat on February 10, 2026, underscoring the government’s active engagement with innovative, future-ready logistics solutions and signaling an important step towards potential commercial adoption.
The 20-foot salt container has been fabricated entirely in stainless steel, including all their structural and load-bearing components. Jindal Stainless has used stainless steel 304 grade, known for its superior corrosion-resistance in chloride-rich environments, for the container body, while JT Grade (N7 as per BIS 6911), recognised for its high strength and weight optimisation, has been deployed for external stiffeners and underframe components.
Commenting on the development, Managing Director, Jindal Stainless, Mr Abhyuday Jindal, said,
“Salt transportation is highly vulnerable to corrosion, leading to frequent repairs, premature asset failure, and significant resource wastage – challenges that can be effectively addressed through the integration of stainless steel. With India’s container market growing steadily, driven by infrastructure expansion, port-led developments, and rising bulk commodity movement, the sector requires materials that can withstand harsh operating conditions while ensuring long-term sustainability. We are proud to have developed the stainless steel salt container for Indian Railways, in line with our continuous commitment to delivering future-ready solutions and supporting the Make in India vision.”
Salt transportation is highly susceptible to corrosion, particularly in coastal environments. Stainless steel salt containers offer significant advantages over those made of conventional materials, in terms of ensuring a longer service life and negligible maintenance costs, owing to its superior corrosion resistance, while also providing an environmentally sustainable solution. Each stainless steel salt container has a tare weight of 3.0 metric tonnes and a payload carrying capacity of 33.0 metric tonnes. A single rake of 48 wagons – typically comprising 96 numbers of 20 ft-stainless steel containers – can carry a total payload of approximately 3,300 metric tonnes. To transport an equivalent payload using conventional mode of transportation, nearly 100 road trailers would be required, leading to increased CO₂ emissions, reinforcing the sustainability advantage of stainless steel containers for large-scale salt logistics.
Stainless Steel salt containers also eliminate the usage of tarpaulin covers. This, combined with the inherent corrosion-resistant properties of stainless steel, helps prevent salt contamination and reduces wastage. Designed to withstand the harsh corrosive environment, stainless steel salt containers are expected to have a lifespan in excess of 15-20 years, which is nearly 6-7 times longer than containers made from conventional materials. In addition, mechanized loading and unloading in stainless steel salt containers enables a faster turnaround time, significantly enhancing productivity. Consequently, the overall life cycle cost of stainless steel containers is estimated to be substantially lower than that of containers made of conventional materials.
This is the first stainless steel salt container designed for Indian Railways, incorporating rail-specific loading, handling, and operational requirements. Learnings from Jindal Stainless’ earlier salt logistics solutions, including the stainless steel salt tipper trailers unveiled last year, have been integrated into this Railways-focused prototype to enable seamless rail-to-road, door-to-door multimodal movement of bulk salt. The prototype has been fabricated by Kalyani Cast Tech Private Limited and developed in accordance with Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) Lucknow specifications.
Jindal Stainless has also successfully developed lightweight and corrosion resistant rail and road containers in stainless steel, which can carry an extra payload of 1.5 – 2.0 MT per container per trip.