10 Railway bridges to come up near Talaipalli coal block

28 November 2016

A total of 10 railway bridges on rivers and nullahs will be coming up near Talaipalli coal block to be mined by NTPC Ltd for feeding fuel to the upcoming Lara Super Thermal Power Project in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh.

Public sector RITES Ltd has already commenced the process for developing a railway line from Tallaipali mines to NTPC Ltd’s upcoming 1600 MW Lara Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) in the district, officials sources informed.

The project also involves ‘Merry Go Round’ railway line connecting Kotarlia Station in the district with the Railway Siding coming up at NTPC’s Lara plant site.

It may be recalled that NTPC is expected to commence coal production from Talaipalli block in Raigarh district by November 2019, official sources informed.

The company had been granted bridge linkage for seeking coal supply from the Talaipalli block by the Union Coal Ministry.

The scheduled date of start of coal production from the coal block as per the Coal Mines Development and Production Agreement is financial year 2019-20.

Notably, the power to be generated by upcoming  NTPC Ltd’s 1600 MW Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) at Lara in Raigarh district will be supplied to Chhattisgarh , Goa and Maharashtra states, officials stated. The project is most likely to go on stream by March 2017 , officials stated.

The coal requirement for the proposed plant would be met from Talaipalli Coal Block of Mand in Raigarh Coalfields, they stated.

It may be recalled that NTPC’s upcoming Lara STPP in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh has acquired all necessary clearances from the Union Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change for the project, officials stated.

The Lara plant of NTPC would be utilising super critical technology for power generation.

Notably, the Union Ministry of Coal has also assured Coal India Ltd (CIL) for getting Mand-Raigarh railway line project expedited to facilitate growth in offtake of coal from mines under South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) in Chhattisgarh.

This was against the target of 123.89 million tonnes (MT) — a growth of 11.1 per cent.

Notably, SECL is targetting total coal production of 250 million tonnes (MT)  from its underground and open cast mines by 2019-20, officials stated.SECL recorded coal production (provisional) of 12.10 million tonnes (MT) against target of 11.70 MT as on February 2016, Coal India Ltd (CIL) informed the Bombay Stock Exchange in its filing.

Notably, the Coal India Ltd (CIL) is targetting production of 1 billion tonnes of coal by 2020.Wagon availability will be a key factor for achieving this target by Coal India Ltd, officials stated.By signing of the MoU, the Railways and Coal India Ltd will be entering into a strategic partnership which would ensure adequate wagon availability for meeting the transportation needs of coal produced by Coal India Ltd.

Notably, the Central government has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding each with the states of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh for critical coal connectivity projects to improve transportation of coal, officials informed.

The Union Railway Budget 2016-17 has put Chhattisgarh on Centre’s high priority list among states for its ambitious dedicated freight corridor project implementation plans.

The Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in his budget speech had put high emphasis on ensuring structuring, award and implementation of freight corridor projects in a time-bound manner through innovative financing mechanisms including Public Private Partnership (PPP).

The Union Railway Minister in his budget speech has also put emphasis on rapid expansion of freight business to build more dedicated freight corridors for increased traffic with consequent benefits for the economy and environment with Chhattisgarh being the direct gainer from the initiative due to high coal and iron ore movement through the Railway network from the State.

Prabhu had also stated that technological solutions for project management and monitoring will be taken up.

Source – Daily Pioneer