Indian Railways, which moved more than 1.5 billion tonnes of goods in the last fiscal year, is expected to transport around 883 million tonnes (MT) of coal by March 2025.
“According to Railways, the likely increase in coal transportation capacity during FY24 and FY25 is about 185 MT,” Power Minister RK Singh said in a written response in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Indian Railways moved 728 million tonnes (MT) coal in FY23, against 653 MT transported in FY22, of this 569 MT was supplied to the power sector in the last fiscal year from 485 MT in FY22.
The dry fuel accounts for a lion’s share of Indian Railways earnings from freight movement. It reported gross freight revenues of ₹1.62 lakh crore in FY23.
Ferrying coal
“As per Railways, during FY23, the net induction of coal carrying wagons was about 8,800 (about 150 rakes). During FY24, the likely net induction of coal carrying rakes would be about 200 rakes, which could provide additional 50 rakes per day for coal loading. The expected increase in annual coal transportation capacity on account of wagon induction would be about 70 MT,” Singh said.
Similarly, likely net induction of coal carrying rakes in FY25 is about 250 rakes, which could provide additional 60 rakes a day. The expected increase in annual coal transportation capacity on account of wagon induction would be about 85 MT, he added.
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The Minister also informed that Railways have identified 40 project for augmentation of coal evacuation, out of which, 17 have already been completed and 23 projects are in progress. Out of 23 projects, it is expected that about 18 projects would be completed by FY27.
Rising power demand
The higher supply of coal is crucial to meet India’s rising power demand, which is being fuelled by growing domestic and industrial consumption. In FY23, India’s power demand grew by around 9.5 per cent.
The peak power demand in the world’s third largest energy guzzler, with a cumulative installed power capacity of 416 gigawatts (GW), stood at 223 GW in June 2023. India’s power demand is expected to grow at around 5-7 per cent y-o-y.
In FY24, India’s electricity generation programme is fixed at 1,750 billion units (BU) with 75.66 per cent electricity to be generated from thermal power plants (TPPs) with an average plant load factor (PLF) of 66.90 per cent.