The Association of Power Producers (APP) has called for an upgrade of the coal-handling infrastructure in India after a recent study done by it revealed that a lot was needed to be done.
APP has called for the development of coal storage facilities on port premises, coastal-based coal preparation hubs, augmentation of rail routes on which coal is transported as well as the establishment of a specialised logistics agency to facilitate efficient sourcing and transportation of coal to various plants.
APP came to the conclusion after it was revealed in its recent study, that only 114 million tonnes out of a total 213 million tonnes of imported coal could be absorbed on account of blending constraints due to technical constraints.
The study also revealed that while the coal handling capacity of existing and planned ports in India appeared to be adequate to handle the expected level of coal imports, first mile connectivity of ports with the main railway network was still a constraint in terms of weak infrastructure, and had troubled the importers of raw material like coal and iron ore over the years.
This is expected to address bottlenecks related to time wastage and hence demurrage at the port locations wherein the coal can be prepared while awaiting further connectivity.
"Setting up of coastal-based coal preparation hubs, besides investments will also call for significant technical know-how and understanding of coal composition, its constituents and technical plant characteristics," says Ashok Khurana, Director General, APP. Khurana told Business Standard that coal logistics in the country needed to be improved also to handle incremental domestic coal quantity required to meet the upcoming generation.