Coal India to ask pithead plants to use road network

This, to increase rake availability with long distance power plants

Coal India will ask power plants at short distances from coal mines to use trucks so that railway rakes are available for plants further away.

A transport bottleneck has caused coal stocks with 16 power plants to reach critical levels in mid-September. 

An executive with Coal India said plants within 60 km of pitheads could transport coal by truck. “Railway freight costs are higher for short distances. Previously, there was a mix between rail and road transport for ferrying coal to nearby plants. Now, road transport will be given priority,” the executive added.

Railway wagons carry 4,000 tonnes of coal,