Railway plans ₹22,067-cr lines for speedy coal evacuation
Indian Railways has planned 14 railway projects involving ₹22,067 crore investment for increasing efficiency and enhancing the capacity of the coal evacuation with reduced cost and timelines. They are expected to augment the coal evacuation capacity of 410 million tons per annum (MTPA). The government's endeavour for a cleaner environment has placed great impetus to further develop rail transportation of coal. These projects will cover a distance of about 2,680 km, which will be spread across Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The transportation of coal through railways will also provide better connectivity and reach. Transporting coal via a road over longer distances poses some of the major pitfalls and is detrimental to the environment and dents the coal miners' pocket with the increased cost of transportation. Currently, Coal India Ltd (CIL) incurs about ₹3,400 crore on transportation charges of coal, and also, large volumes of coal are transported via road, which many times lead to accidents while passing through rural areas because of narrow and poorly maintained road structures. To avert these hiccups, the government has projected to invest in alternative modes of transport, like rail, inland waterways and coastal shipping. These modes are aimed at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the transportation of coal. Coal is the mainstay of the Indian energy sector catering to over 50 per cent of the total energy generation capacity mix. Multiple industries of power utilities, steel, cement and other end-use industries consume coal in bulk quantities throughout the country, while coal production is mostly concentrated in a few states only.
