KOLKATA | Nov 20, 2017: Coal India plans to almost double supplies to power generators within a 60 km radius of its pits, using 13,500 trucks every day, in a bid to ease a coal shortage at such plants.

Close to 7,700 trucks are used daily to transport coal to the state-owned company’s consumers and this is expected to rise to 13,500, a senior Coal India executive said. The move is part of Coal India’s ease of business initiative that allows power consumers near pit heads to take coal directly from the mines and even exceed their yearly quota.

“The offer has caught on well with a large number of power companies that are already lifting coal through roadways on trucks. We are now targeting to send almost double the quantity we have been sending through roadways,” the Coal India executive said.

Coal India has listed 20 mines from which eligible consumers can take as much coal as they want. As power companies transport more coal by road to their plants, it will free up capacity of the railways to carry the fuel to plants beyond 60 km.

“According to preliminary estimates, 35 rakes are expected to be freed up daily if Coal India manages to send coal on 13,500 trucks. These could then be utilised to feed coal to plants that are further away,” said a senior executive of Coal India Limited.

For plants beyond 60 km, Coal India has decided to send as much additional coal as possible so that their stockpiles reach a comfortable position. Factors such as reduction in hydel generation and increased power consumption have led to a rise in demand for thermal coal.

Coal India is looking at this as an opportunity to liquidate some 33 million tonnes of stocks lying at pit heads. Anticipating increased demand for power to continue, the mining company plans to boost production, which rose to 554 million tonnes in the year ended March 2017.

“Increasing coal production and despatch would not be a problem, but the real issue is to mobilise the coal available at mine heads to thermal power plants,” the executive said. Coal India managed to load 250 rakes a day of coal last week, the highest level in November.

It is targeting 266 rakes a day to achieve an average loading of 250 rakes a day for the year. In the medium term, Coal India intends to load 300 rakes a day through Indian Railways.

(Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/)