CIL wants more wagons

Coal India Limited (CIL) chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya today requested Indian Railways to extend "more cooperation and co-ordination to step up coal movement by increased wagon supply" at a top-level 'Rail-Coal Interface Meeting', an annual exercise to settle issues on strategic planning growth in logistics, particularly in rail transportation.

Rolling stock and infrastructure issues were also discussed at the meeting, which formulated a field-wise wagon loading programme in keeping with coal off-take target.

R N Varma, Additional Member (Traffic), of the Railway Board, said coal continued to be rhe largest commodity for Indian Railway traffic and 65 Million Ton (MT) increase in movement was expected in 2008-09.

He said infrastructure development and investment planning would be done to meet CIL's demand. Railways would bring in new technology and new wagons with higher axle load and reduce tare weight, Varma added. He urged CIL "to reduce wagon retention time" at its loading points.

K Ranganath, Director (Marketing) of CIL, said coal was shipped largely by Railways and as volumes were large and distances longer, needs had changed.

This could require new guidelines to work out the strategies in coal evacuation. While 21 thermal power stations as on date were at critical level carrying coal of less than seven days, 11 were on the verge of becoming critical. Up gradation of existing tracks, including development of trunk corridors for coal traffic, and dedicated rolling stocks for coal traffic are vital necessities.

Total coal off-take for 2007-08 was expected to be 375mnt, 24mnt over the previous fiscal.

Of this, 207mnt would move by rail with major incremental loading from Talcher (MCL) Korba (SECL), Ib valley (MCL) and Karanpura (CCL) fields.

Coal India's total off-take till February 2008 was 339mnt of which 170mnt was by rail, up 4.2 per cent compared to same period previous year. From a level of loading 22150 four-wheeled wagons (FWWs) per day betweeb April 2007 and February 2008, CIL expected to improve loading to 24016 FWWs/day in 2008-09.

Wagon requirement was likely to increase to 25533 wagons per day for evacuating accumulated pithead stock. This meant more than 7 per cent growth in wagon loading is projected for 2008-09, which could rise to 14 per cent if stock liquidation programme was implemented.

Under CIL's production plan, wagon requirement at the end of XI Five year Plan (2011-12) would be around 32,500 wagons per day, indicating annualized growth rate of 10 per cent in coming years thanks to large scale mechanization of production and evacuation facilities planned for most coal mines.

Of the incremental off-take of 24mnt, movement in 2007-08 by rail was about 8mnt while overall coal transportation through rail was 55 per cent, said Partha S Bhattacharyya. Coal imports would rise from 2008-09 and CIL would import coal too for domestic buyers.

"The XI Plan is going to be different from the earlier plans in respect of quantum jump required in rate of coal production and evacuation," Bhattacharyya added. CIL and Railways would work out a holistic strategy to achieve desired growth in coal offtake from mines and as well as from imported coal.