Coal India Limited, in a maiden venture, has decided to acquire railway wagons under the GPWIS (General Purpose Wagon Investment Scheme), a scheme proposed for customers to own wagons in order to facilitate transportation of products.
Upon approval of its board members, the coal company has approved the purchase of 40 rakes, which would approximately cost INR 700 Crores.
The rake procurement would prove to be a valuable asset for CIL given that the company expects to realize its entire investment on the rakes within a decade with average durability of rakes spanning around 35 years.
CIL had been crying foul over the lack of rake availability to speed up coal supplies to the power plants at the time of peak demand.
The planned procurement of rakes would ensure improved coal loadings from areas where production is expected to expand rapidly. Besides, it would also assures the company to push increased quantities of coal especially to power plants in desired routes, thereby lessening the import levels to some extent.
It is pertaining to note that one rake comprises of 59 wagons, which can deliver near-about 1.4 MnT of coal per annum.
CIL has envisaged 1 Billion Tonne coal production in the coming years, and is eyeing the pursuant of rakes as a valuable addition to achieve its ambitious plan. During FY19, the company had loaded 236 rakes per day, which are likely go up to 400 rakes per day.
Beneficiary Regions:
Initially, CIL has planned to use its rakes in SECR zone in Jharsuguda-Nagpur and Katni northwards covering complete IB Valley and the entire stretch of SECL.
The expanding production levels with a high base of power plant customers in the region provide a favourable option for deployment of the proposed rail wagons. Upon request, the route for movement of rakes can be changed once in six months.
In addition, CIL has sought latest wagons with higher load carrying capacity to the tune of 80 MT, in order to move higher coal volume once the load bearing capacity of the track increases.
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