Three rail links aggregating 323 km can unlock over 300 million tonnes of annual production of coal.

Miners, largely Coal India Ltd (CIL) and a host of captive users, are ready pay for the infrastructure creation. Yet, decades after the projects were conceived, the rail links are yet to materialise.

This is the story of the Tori-Shibpur-Hazaribagh (91 km), Jharsuguda-Barpalli-Sardega (52 km) and Bhupdeopur-Raigarh-Mand (180 km) projects that found reference in Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda’s speech in Parliament on Tuesday. It had found mention in the 2011 speech of then Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, who had to step down from the government.

Gowda is now focussed on fast implementation of the projects.

And, according to AN Sahay, Chairman of Sambalpur-based Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), completion of the Jharsuguda-Barpalli-Sardega link in Odisha can immediately increase the coal availability from Vasundhara coalfields by 7 million tonne a year.

The mine has green clearances for producing 17 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

In the absence of adequate evacuation infrastructure, MCL restricts production to 10 mtpa. This is just a fraction of its actual potential.

The region has some of the largest idle coal reserves, like Siarmal (50 mtpa), Kuldah (15 mtpa), Garjandhal (10 mtpa) and Vasundhara West (8 mtpa). Sahay estimates the rail project will help boost MCL’s production by nearly 80 mtpa.

Scheduled for completion in 2009, the Railways have so far created half of the 52 km network. With the Centre recently granting stage-II forest clearance, Sahay is hopeful that the residual part will be completed by 2016.

But Tori-Shibpur-Hazaribagh in Jharkhand and Bhupdeopur-Raigarh-Mand in Chhattisgarh may have to wait longer.

Conceived nearly two decades ago, the Railways is now focussing on the completion of the 44 km Tori-Shivpur leg to help Ranchi-based Central Coalfields unlock 40-50 mtpa production potential from Magadh, Amrapali and North Karanpura deposits.

CIL sources, however, say the project is unlikely to be completed soon, due to a delay in land acquisition by the State Government.

There has been little progress in the Chhattisgarh project. After years of inaction by the Railways, in July 2007, the State Government joined hands with CIL in executing the rail link. However, the special purpose vehicle is still in the initial stages of project implementation. The Mand-Raigarh field in the State currently produces 5 mtpa of coal against a potential of 200 mtpa.

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