A 1987 batch Indian Railway Traffic Service officer, V. Kalyana Rama is currently serving as chairman and managing director (CMD), Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR). He brings to the table 17 years of experience in the railway sector.
Rama has vast experience in freight and passenger operations. Besides, he has the distinction of having worked in the most intensive freight loading division (Bilaspur) in South Eastern Railway. He also has expertise in multimodal logistics, port operations, rail-road operations and execution of new projects.
Rama has held several important positions in various departments of the central government – senior general manager (commercial and operations), CONCOR; deputy chief operation manager, South Central Railway; and chief executive officer, Infinite Logistics Solutions Private Limited, a joint venture of Reliance Logistics Private Limited and CONCOR.
Subsequent to this, he has held several positions at CONCOR – group general manager, southern region; chief general manager, southern region; chief general manager, south central region; executive director (south central region); and director (projects and services) at the corporate office. He took over as CMD in October 2016.
While serving in South Central Railway, Rama exhibited exemplary managerial and administrative prowess in setting up four multimodal logistics parks, at Nagalapalli (Hyderabad), Visakhapatnam, Krishnapatnam (Nellore) and Sriperumbudur (Chennai).
As CMD, he has plans to increase the turnover to Rs 120 billion by 2021 and further to Rs 240 billion by 2023. Rama has also set a target to raise CONCOR’s market share from the present 74 per cent to 80 per cent. Besides, he has plans to commission 100 terminals by 2021 to establish a pan-India presence to facilitate services at the doorstep of CONCOR’s customers.
Under Rama’s vision, CONCOR has transitioned from being a mere transporter of containers through rail to a third-party/ fourth-party logistics provider. Further, in order to achieve the highest service-level standards, CONCOR has adopted the “Our Ethos – Customer Value Creation” policy.
Believing that a healthy mind needs a healthy body, Rama is an avid sports lover. He runs the half-marathon regularly, and is a gym enthusiast and golf lover as well. According to him, excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends.