If you think delay in granting environmental and forest clearances are the prime reasons behind the slow growth of coal production in the country, think twice.
Coal India Chairman Mr N. C Jha feels that while the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is now showing urgency to process valid applications, slow progress on the part of Indian Railways in creating necessary lines covering 50-100 km each — so as to connect at least three major deposits in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa — are together holding up potential coal production of nearly 400 million tonne a year (mtpa).
Of the total, CIL-owned fields — including Magadh (20 mtpa) and Amrapali (12 mtpa) in Jharkhand, Vasundhara (70-75 mtpa) in Orissa Coalfields and Mand-Raigarh (200 mtpa) in Chhatishgarh — have a capacity to produce nearly 300 mtpa. Currently dependent on road transport, CIL is producing hardly 25-30 mtpa from the fields.
According to Mr Jha, what is more surprising is that, for most of these projects CIL had made requisite payments to the Indian Railways no less than 5 years back. Also, while the proposed 100-km Tori-Shibpur-Hazaribagh line connecting the Jharkhand deposits is reportedly held up due to slow progress in availing forest clearances, the CIL chairman claims that there was hardly any such impediment for connecting the Vasundhara (50-km) and Mand-Raigarh (63-km) stretch.
“Both the projects were scheduled to be implemented in the Eleventh Plan (2007-12) but are either far from over (Vasundhara) or yet to take-off (Mand-Raigarh),” he said.
“The environmental and forest clearances have recently started coming up, but unless the railways invest in creating adequate evacuation logistics capacity, the coal availability in the country will never improve,” Mr Jha said.
Huge stock
Until April 2011, CIL had a huge pithead stock of 70 million tonne or nearly two months' average production. “For over a couple of years, our production has not grown, but our inventory at rail sidings all across kept piling up,” he said.
“The mining production will continue to be impacted in summer and rainy seasons; what needs to be improved is rail capacity to carry available coal from the sidings to the consumers,” Mr Jha said. In fact, at a time when the company is facing the flak for lack of domestic coal supplies, CIL is set to end the year with the same, or even more, pit head stock.