Team News Riveting
Kolkata, December 28
State-run Coal India Limited (CIL) had accelerated transporting coal from the tracks as it had planned to gradually migrate away from the road movement of the dry fuel in a bid to reduce dust pollution and also diesel costs.
Ending November of the ongoing financial year 2020-21 (FY21), CIL’s exclusive rail coal movement at around 202 Million Tonnes (MTs) went up by 16 per cent, on a year-on-year comparison, while the road mode fell by 33 per cent.
Even in 2019-20, road transportation of coal was down by 11 per cent. Rail mode transportation accounted for 56 per cent of the total coal off-take of CIL in April-November 20. Rail and Merry-Go-Round combined was close to 76 per cent.
Expediting its rail evacuation infrastructure, CIL is constructing 21 additional green-field and brown-field railway sidings at an estimated investment of Rs 3,370 crore in four of its subsidiaries. These would be commissioned by FY’24. CIL currently has around 152 rail sidings and the tally would go up to 173 by 2024.
“The sidings will add fillip to CIL’s First Mile Connectivity efforts, acting as effective coal evacuation outlets. The dovetailing of existing and new rail sidings with rapid loading system silos of FMC projects will help improve loading quantity in future when production expands” said a senior official of the company. CIL is aiming to move about 555 MT of coal per year through mechanized means by FY’24.
With CIL eyeing to achieve one billion tonne output by FY ’24, the nudge is to transport bulk of the coal through rail mode. In this backdrop, CIL is ramping up its rail evacuation facilities.
South Eastern Coalfields Limited accounts for ten of the proposed 21 sidings followed by Central Coalfields Limited with six, Eastern Coalfields Limited three and Bharat Coking Coal Limited two.
Apart from investing in new sidings CIL is refurbishing old sidings, strengthening rail connectivity between the sidings and the main rail lines. CIL is also investing in construction of new broad gauge rail lines in green-field areas either on deposit basis or by formation of rail JVs with Indian Railways and the concerned state governments.
To bolster further capacity enhancement CIL will be extending the rail links to newer loading points and doubling and tripling the lines in some cases.
Jharsuguda-Sardega rail line in Odisha under MCL is being doubled and construction of a double line flyover at Jharsuguda is on the anvil. In Jharkhand under CCL, Tori-Shivpur new broad-gauge double rail line has been laid and Tori-Shivpur 3rd rail line is underway. Construction of Shivpur-Kathautia rail link is also being planned through a rail JV of CCL.
