Coal India is the single largest producer of coal in the world. Last year, we produced 380 million tonnes (mt), likely to rise to 405 mt in the current fiscal. Handling this huge volume is a big challenge. A few States - West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh-account for the bulk of the country’s total coal production but coal is consumed throughout the country. This means coal has to be transported over a considerable distance and the average lead now is 600 km.
The coal producing companies are responsible for transporting coal from the pitheads to the nearest railheads or road heads. Our sale price includes the cost of transportation from the pitheads to the nearest loading point either by rail or by road. The cost comes to about Rs 20-25 per tonne. Distance of transportation varies from place to place — from two to three km to even 25-30 km. We charge extra if the road bridging covers a distance of more than 20 km. Rail carries 60 per cent of coal, around 32-33 per cent goes by road and the balance by captive facilities like merry-go-round (MGR), conveyor system and ropeways. We’ve noticed that in some cases the consumers pay more for transportation than for the price of the coal.
Road transports have certain problems. First, the condition of the roads in mining areas leaves much to be desired. Next, we have to put up with an unsatisfactory transportation system. Unsatisfactory, because the number of players is limited and since we sign annual contracts with them, these players take a short-term view and are, therefore, not interested in long-term investment to modernise their fleet. In sum, the road transport capacity available in the mining areas is far from satisfactory, both in terms of the number of vehicles and the types of vehicles that are deployed.
To solve the problem CIL is planning to enter into five-year contracts with transport operators with the stipulation that they must deploy modern, higher-capacity vehicles. We’re also encouraging our consumers to opt more for MGRs, conveyor systems and ropeways as a means of evacuating coal from the pitheads. We’re planning to have washeries installed on build-operate-transfer basis at the pitheads so that we can transport washed coal by road. It will mean we will carry the same energy with much less volume. As many as 18 locations have been identified and the tendering process for setting up the washeries will start soon.
As regards coal transport by Rail, the railways has reached a point where the capacity cannot be augmented substantially by adopting such measures as wagon loading in excess of permissible limit or cutting down on wagon detention by slapping higher detention charges. The benefits of all these measures have already been achieved. In fact, the time has come when capacity cannot be increased significantly even by increasing the wagon availability. New wagons essentially replace the condemned ones. Line capacity is limited. Perhaps a dedicated freight corridor is the answer. We sincerely would like to see the work on the project taken up in right earnest, more so in view of the projected increase in coal traffic.
There are discussions for pipelines as a means of coal transportation. But this will require sufficient water and also laying pipeline in areas of a certain gradient. All this discussion is at a very nascent stage. Frankly, I’m not very hopeful.
The coal producing companies are responsible for transporting coal from the pitheads to the nearest railheads or road heads. Our sale price includes the cost of transportation from the pitheads to the nearest loading point either by rail or by road. The cost comes to about Rs 20-25 per tonne. Distance of transportation varies from place to place — from two to three km to even 25-30 km. We charge extra if the road bridging covers a distance of more than 20 km. Rail carries 60 per cent of coal, around 32-33 per cent goes by road and the balance by captive facilities like merry-go-round (MGR), conveyor system and ropeways. We’ve noticed that in some cases the consumers pay more for transportation than for the price of the coal.
Road transports have certain problems. First, the condition of the roads in mining areas leaves much to be desired. Next, we have to put up with an unsatisfactory transportation system. Unsatisfactory, because the number of players is limited and since we sign annual contracts with them, these players take a short-term view and are, therefore, not interested in long-term investment to modernise their fleet. In sum, the road transport capacity available in the mining areas is far from satisfactory, both in terms of the number of vehicles and the types of vehicles that are deployed.
To solve the problem CIL is planning to enter into five-year contracts with transport operators with the stipulation that they must deploy modern, higher-capacity vehicles. We’re also encouraging our consumers to opt more for MGRs, conveyor systems and ropeways as a means of evacuating coal from the pitheads. We’re planning to have washeries installed on build-operate-transfer basis at the pitheads so that we can transport washed coal by road. It will mean we will carry the same energy with much less volume. As many as 18 locations have been identified and the tendering process for setting up the washeries will start soon.
As regards coal transport by Rail, the railways has reached a point where the capacity cannot be augmented substantially by adopting such measures as wagon loading in excess of permissible limit or cutting down on wagon detention by slapping higher detention charges. The benefits of all these measures have already been achieved. In fact, the time has come when capacity cannot be increased significantly even by increasing the wagon availability. New wagons essentially replace the condemned ones. Line capacity is limited. Perhaps a dedicated freight corridor is the answer. We sincerely would like to see the work on the project taken up in right earnest, more so in view of the projected increase in coal traffic.
There are discussions for pipelines as a means of coal transportation. But this will require sufficient water and also laying pipeline in areas of a certain gradient. All this discussion is at a very nascent stage. Frankly, I’m not very hopeful.
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