3 rail links to transport coal delayed; CIL output to be hit

The delay in the schedules for completion of three critical rail links for transporting coal from CIL mines is likely to impact the company's production over the next two years.
State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL), which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production, is already drawing flak for missing its production targets.
According to an official document, the Railways has indicated "the revised timelines for these three critical rail projects".
It said: "The timeline indicated for Tori-Shivpur was December 2016 as against March 2015; for Jharsugudu-Barpalli June 2016 against December 2014 approved earlier. For Bhupdevpur-Korichapar, Railways indicated timeline as September 2016."

The impact of the delay is envisaged at 67.16 million tonnes (MT), of which 13.6 MT will be in 2015-16 and 16.1 MT in 2016-17 in the case of Tori-Shivpur line and 12.5 MT in 2015-16 and 20 MT in 2016-17 in the case of Jharsugusa- Barpalli, it said.
There has been a revision in the schedule by 21 months in the case of Tori-Shivpur and 18 months for Jharsuguda-Barpalli when compared to the initially decided timelines by the Cabinet Committee on Investment, it said.

"In case of Bhupdevpur-Korichapar, if this line does not come up by 2015-16, the loss of production is envisaged to be at 4.96 million tonnes from the mines of CIL alone," it added.

Tori-Shivpur-Kathuatia Railway line (90.7 KM) is in North Karanpura in Jharkhand, Jharsuguda-Barpalli-Sardega Railway line (53 km) in IB Valley, Odisha and Bhupdevpur-Korichapur- Dharamjaigarh (180 km) in Mand-Raigarh Coalfield, Chhattisgarh.
According to the decision of CCI in its meeting held in July last year, the Tori-Shivpur-Kathautia Railway line was to be completed by March 2015 and Jharsuguda-Barpalli-Sardega Railway Line by December 2014. For Bhupdevpur-Korichapar- Dharamjaigarh Railway Line, the Ministry of Railways was to indicate timelines for the completion.
CIL produced 462 MT coal in FY'14, missing the target of 482 MT. In FY'13, the company produced 452.5 MT coal while the target was 464 MT.