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Informist, Thursday, Jun. 5, 2025

 

KOLKATA – Coal India Ltd. Thursday said it plans to commission 19 first-mile connectivity projects in 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) which could evacuate 150 million tonnes of coal every year to the loading points from where the fossil fuel will eventually be shipped. The company plans to commission a total of 92 such connectivity projects in a phased manner by March 2029, allowing it to ferry 994 million tonnes of coal per annum to the loading points, it said in a statement.

 

Coal India said it aims to evacuate nearly its entire production target of 1 billion tonnes by March 2029 to the loading points. On May 20, Informist had exclusively reported, quoting company officials, that the world's largest coal miner has deferred its target of producing 1 billion tonnes of coal annually for the seventh time in a little over a decade due to poor demand and challenges related to land acquisition which would affect production.

 

A first-mile connectivity project is an automated coal evacuation process which ensures eco-friendly coal transportation in piped conveyor belts from pitheads to loading points. Key features of this project involve constructing mechanised coal handling plants equipped with coal crushers where coal is sized, and building rapid loading systems where a precise quantity of coal is loaded into wagons to avoid overloading or underloading.

 

Such projects are an alternative to truck-based road transportation to railway sidings and help avoid manual loading through pay loaders. This leads to reduced dust, noise and vehicular emissions, minimises road congestion, and improves safety. The wagon turnaround time will also fall due to these projects, Coal India said.

 

"We expect to transport an estimated incremental quantity of 20 million tonnes through first-mile connectivity projects in the ongoing financial year," a senior company official said in the statement.

 

Terming first-mile connectivity projects as environment-friendly, Coal India said coal evacuation from 20 such projects linked with the Indian Railways' network grew 34% on year to 102.5 million tonnes in 2024-25 (Apr-Mar). In FY24, the Maharatna company had evacuated 76.5 million tonnes of coal through 17 such projects.

 

During Apr-May, Coal India has posted a 36.7% on-year growth in coal movement through first-mile connectivity projects. In the same period last year, it transported 15 million tonnes of coal via such projects.

 

Coal India said it has conducted a pilot study through professional agencies to assess the potential environmental and economic advantages of loading coal to railway wagons via such projects. The results reflected a sizeable reduction in carbon emissions, air pollutants, ambient noise levels and a significant savings in diesel costs. For instance, in Chhattisgarh's Gevra coal mine, which has a first-mile connectivity project in place to evacuate 10 million tonnes of coal, there was a reduction of around 84% particulate matter and other gaseous emissions compared to pay-loader loading at sidings, Coal India said.

 

Coal India had reported a consolidated net profit of INR 96.04 billion for the March quarter on a revenue of INR 378.25 billion. At 1525 IST, shares of Coal India traded 0.60% higher at INR 395.30 the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Avishek Rakshit

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

 

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