Mahanadi Coalfields to double Jharsuguda-Sardega line, triple coal handling

Coal India arm targets at 162.5 mn tonne output, will spend Rs 14 bn on project that has potential to offer livelihood to 5,000

Coal India subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) has decided to double the 53.1 km Jharsuguda-Sardega rail link to scale up coal handling. 

“MCL has already invested Rs 11.25 billion on the railway line. We are going to have a second line wherein total project investment will go up to Rs 25 billion. After commissioning of the second line, the handling capacity will be ramped up to 40 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from 13 mtpa”, said Jaswinder Pal Singh, director (technical & operations), MCL.

Singh said, MCL produced 143 million tonnes (mt) of coal in last fiscal. In FY19, the coal miner