New Delhi: State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) said Monday it is constructing 21 railway sidings. The total cost is estimated to be an investment of Rs 3,370 crore. The sidings will come up in four of Coal India’s subsidiaries. These railway sidings would be commissioned by FY’24.
CIL currently has around 152 rail sidings and the tally would go up to 173 by 2024, CIL said in a statement.
CIL underpinning for a cleaner environment in coal transportation has placed increased impetus on rail evacuation. It would gradually migrate away from the road movement of the dry fuel, it added. Reduced road transportation of coal would depress the dust pollution. It will also save on the diesel costs, the statement said.
Ending November of the ongoing fiscal, CIL’s exclusive rail coal movement at around 202 million tonnes(MT) went up by 16 per cent, on a year-on-year comparison. The road mode fell by 33 per cent.
“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,” a senior official of the company said.
CIL is aiming to move about 555 MT of coal per year through mechanised means by FY’24. With CIL aspiring for 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 Ltd (SECL) accounts for 10 of the proposed 21 sidings. It will be followed by Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) with six, Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) three and Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) two.
CIL is also investing in construction of new broad gauge rail lines in greenfield 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.
The 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 third rail line is underway.
