New Delhi, July 14 -- Indian Railways has opened the door for private companies to design commodity-specific freight wagons, the centrepiece of eight new reform measures unveiled on Tuesday as the government seeks to make rail freight more competitive and raise its share of India's cargo movement.

The latest measures-numbered 10 to 17 under the government's "52 reforms in 52 weeks" programme-span wagon design, container operations, construction contracting and project execution.

Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the reforms are intended to improve ease of doing business while helping Railways capture a larger share of freight traffic, which currently accounts for about 27% of the country's total cargo movement.

The reforms are par...