Govt to commission 14 railway projects for rapid fuel transportation

To strengthen the infrastructure of Indian Railways, the Central Government has emphasised commissioning 14 critical coal-evacuation railway projects for more rapid fuel transportation.

These projects comprise of 1 Tori– Shivpur Rail Line (on Deposit Basis), Jharsuguda – Barpali– Sardega Rail Link at Ib-Valley Coalfield of MCL in the state of Odisha (on deposit basis) along with Shivpur – Kathautia Rail Line via Special Purpose Vehicle (SVP).

The progress and status of these projects were reviewed in a meeting last month under the Chairmanship of Coal Secretary A K Jain.

According to the report, due to increased fuel prices, thermal power generation from imported coal-based plants is expected to decline further and would put pressure on Indian Railways' to transport domestic coal.

Jain informed that nearly 8% of the thermal power generation used to come from imported coal-based plants, which because of higher coal prices has dropped to 3%. In the future, this is most likely to decline more, and this would bring stress on the national transporter for domestic coal’s transportation to eliminate/substitute import of thermal coal.

As most of the imported coal-based thermal power plants are located on the coast and are far away, the cabinet secretary would analyse the capabilities of Indian Railways for coal transportation upcountry.

According to the secretary, the coal handling plant, along with the other first-mile connectivity projects would help in decreasing the turnaround time of wagons or rakes, which is very important.

Thus, for faster and more efficient coal transportation, the commissioning of these 14 railway projects is necessary.

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