Mahanadi Coal Railway Limited (MCRL) has hastened the construction work on the 68 km long Inner Rail Corridor, which is to be built in a phased manner by IRCON. Of the two phases, Phase-I covers Angul-Balram Rail Link (14-km) while Phase-II Balram-Putugadia-Jarapada-Tentuloi Rail Link will cover a length of 54 km. Construction work on Phase-I is in full swing while land acquisition is under process for Phase II. All the mandatory clearances including forestry have already been put in place. Compliance to observation for Stage-II clearance has also been submitted and site specification and wildlife management plan has also been approved by Principal Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Bhubaneswar recently. This project is intended to provide common rail corridor for evacuation of coal from both CIL and non-CIL coal blocks in Talcher Coal Field Area and will also provide multiple entries and exit points for coal rakes for faster evacuation and decongest the Indian Railway system by avoiding concentration of rakes at limited entry and exit route from Talcher Coal Field from which the government is planning to produce coal by 2030.
