The Hindu Business Line : Kolkata port contests report on doubling of railway line

Kolkata, Oct. 3 The report on port connectivity, as prepared by a private consultancy firm on the proposal for doubling of railway line between Haldia dock and Rajgoda (54 km), has evoked sharp reaction from the authorities of Kolkata Port Trust.

The KoPT authorities wonder if the views expressed in the report opposing the doubling proposal are based on proper assessment of actual cargo potential on the route. The consultancy firm prepared the report on the proposed doubling at the behest of the Railways. A smaller stretch (16 km) between Panskura and Rajgoda has already been doubled. However, the work on the balance stretch of 54 km between Rajgoda and Haldia is yet to start.

At present, according to the consultancy report, about 10 trains each way run every day on the route – eight freight trains (four for transporting iron ore and two each for coal and petroleum products) and two passenger trains. The line has the capacity to handle another eight freight trains each way per day.

However, the traffic throughput at Haldia, it is indicated, instead of rising in coming years, will actually drop as an estimated 8-9 million tonnes (mt) of crude traffic, now handled by the dock, will shift to Paradip with the commissioning of Paradip-Haldia crude pipeline.

In such a situation, if the railways choose to invest money on doubling of the route, it will suffer a financial loss as the internal rate of return on the investment will be less than 12 per cent.

The consultancy firm, KoPT sources regret, has failed to take into account the additional volumes of rail-borne traffic to be handled by the dock in coming years. By 2011, the dock, it is estimated, will handle substantial volumes of additional bulk traffic to be generated on account of several plants being set up in West Bengal such as the steel plants of the Jindal, Jai Balaji and Adhunik and other groups.

SAIL has indicated to handle an additional nine mt of traffic, both imports and exports, through the dock. The commissioning of the Tata’s coke plant, Hooghly Metcoke, at Haldia will bring an additional couple of million tonnes of traffic annually. In addition, Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur plant is undergoing expansion and several new plants are coming up in Jharkhand. For units to be located in Jharkhand, Haldia dock will be the obvious choice.

“Right now, Haldia dock handles 15/16 mt of rail-borne traffic annually, likely to more than double in next few years,” add KoPT sources.

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