Coal India Ltd (CIL), the world's largest coal miner,
is set to fund construction of a large rail network connecting
the country's coalfields. For the purpose CIL would float a special-purpose
vehicle (SPV) that would lay a 180-km line for evacuating coal currently
blocked in Chhattisgarh. To cover its investment, in yet another first for the
miner, it is planning to levy a user charge, marking its entry into transport
business.
Although CIL would hold 64 % stake in the SPV, the rest
would be shared between Ircon, a company under the rail ministry, and the Chhattisgarh
government. The move is part of a bigger plan being implemented under the PMO's
watch to set up three rail lines, running 300-km across three naxal-affected
but coal-rich states of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand. The PMO has asked
the coal, environment and rail ministries to complete the project in three
years to free up 300 metric ton (MT) coal supply
“This is an unprecedented move by CIL to increase supply. We
will fund a major rail line running 180 km across coalfields. So far, we have
built only small railway sidings of less than 10 km for in-house use,” CIL
Chairman Mr. S Narsing Rao said. He further said the miner would fund
64 %, or Rs 2,880 crore, of the Rs 4,500-crore costs for building the
double-line broad-gauge Bhupdeopur-Korba-Dharamjai rail collieries The decision
was taken at a recent meeting of the PM's principal secretary, Pulok
Chatterjee, with Rao, secretaries of the coal and environment ministries and
Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal .
CIL subsidiaries had approved the funding proposal. The
details of the user fee to be charged on companies in the power and steel
sectors, a completely new concept, were being worked out. It had been decided
CIL would finalize a Memorandum of Understanding with the rail ministry on the
projects funded by the miner. The MOU would cover the financial obligation on
CIL and the operational responsibility of the railways. Mr. Rao added.
The line would connect the eastern and western collieries of
Chhattisgarh's Mand-Raigarh coalfield, which houses 37 billion tonnes of
high-grade reserves. The field has a production potential of 40 MT per year.
The Planning Commission has granted in-principle approval for a 63-km section
of the line.
As part of the plan, two more lines, covering 146-km would
be laid to connect Jharkhand's North Karanpura coalfield with Odisha's Ib
Valley.
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