New Delhi, Jun 3 (PTI) Railways freight earnings dropped by Rs 8,283 crore during the lockdown months of April and May as compared to the same period last year, the data showed on Wednesday, indicating a slow year ahead for the national transporter amidst the gloom of the coronavirus crisis.

While it almost doubled its foodgrain loading from 5.7MT between April 1 and May 31 last year to 11.09 MT this year, registering a Rs 607 crore increase from last year's earnings, it suffered a setback in revenue generation from all other products it carried.

Also Read | Air India to Operate 75 Outbound Passenger Flights to US, Canada from June 9-June 30 Under Vande Bharat Mission.

Its earnings from coal loading fell from Rs 11,033 crore in 2019 to Rs 5,720 crore in 2020. Revenue generation from transporting mineral oil fell to Rs 761 crore this year from Rs 979 crore last year, the data showed.

It also suffered a dip in transportation of iron ores and its earnings from the product reduced by Rs 484 crore between April 1 and May 31 this year.

Also Read | Delhi Reports 1,513 COVID-19 Cases, 9 Deaths Today: Live Breaking News Headlines & Coronavirus Updates, June 3, 2020.

The national transporter saw a slight dip in its loading of fertilisers -- from 7.3 MT in 2019 to 6.56 MT this year; the revenue dipped from Rs 709 crore to Rs 289 crore.

Overall, during the two months, the Railways loaded 147.69 MT of goods while earning Rs 13,412.09 crore. During the same period last year, it loaded 205.81 MT of goods earning a revenue of Rs 21,695.61 crore.

The Railways had already ended the 2019-20 fiscal 15.7 million tonne short of the previous year's 1,212.56 million tonne loading, recording a loss of Rs 2,129 crore.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)