By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 12, 2022: At a time when the shortage of coal has beleaguered power producers across India, the first stretch of the Mahanadi Coal Railway, a dedicated rail line in the Talcher Coalfields, is expected to be operational in 2022, the Ministry of Coal said in a statement on July 11.

The 14-kilometre Angul-Balram railway line connecting coal blocks in Odisha’s Talcher coalfield is likely to become operational in the current year, the government said on Monday. The new dedicated railway line will help ensure faster movement of coal rakes to Paradip and Damra ports in Odisha, the government said.

According to a coal ministry statement, the rail corridor will be a game-changer in the evacuation of coal from Talcher coalfield.

The rail corridor will improve faster movement of rakes to Paradip and Dhamra ports, thereby decongesting rail network and this will also reduce transportation cost considerably, it said, adding that the government is working on 14 coal-evacuation rail projects for quick transit of fuel.

Last week, news reports said that the Centre is evaluating alternative routes for moving coal produced in eastern India, primarily from the fields of South Eastern Coalfields and Mahanadi Coalfields.

Shipping ministry officials said coastal shipping routes have been proposed to ease the congestion on railway lines and rake shortages during peak demand seasons.

The ministry added that shipping routes are much cheaper compared to the rail network and will improve coal availability in the southern and western regions of the country.

The alignment of the project traverses through Angul district in Odisha. Angul and Jarapda are existing stations of Indian Railways network. Balram is the loading station in Talcher–Balram private siding of MCL.

The first phase of the Mahanadi Coal Railway is a 14-km-long Angul-Balram rail corridor that will facilitate the movement of 25 million tonnes (MT) of coal from MCL mines in Talcher Coalfields.

The second phase of MCRL, a 54-km-long Balram-Jarpada-Tentuloi span, is expected to be commissioned by December 2025 and provides connectivity to allocated coal blocks on the southern side and central part of Talcher Coalfields.

The second phase will cater to the evacuation of around 58 MT of coal from CIL and non-CIL coal blocks in Talcher. “This railway line will cater to evacuation of 25 MT coal from MCL mines in Talcher coalfields,” the statement said.

Talcher coalfield of Coal India arm Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd (MCL) has around 52 billion tonnes of resources, which is 15 per cent of total prognosticated coal resources in the country.

Of the available resources in Talcher coalfield, more than 63 per cent (33 billion tonnes) lies within 300 metre depth, presenting significant potential for open-cast mining, the statement said.