Coal news and updates

Railways gear up to supply wagons to transport coal to power plants

Anticipating increased demand for power in the coming summer, Indian Railways has geared up to supply sufficient wagons to facilitate the smooth transportation of coal for the power sector.

Till now 1.25 lakh wagons are being pressed into service for coal transportation mostly to power plants, said an official in the railways.

The railways ramped up the production of wagons. Every month, the national transporter adds nearly 1,500 wagons, the official said.

To meet the requirement, the railways is preparing to operate up to 520 freight trains per day only to transport coal to power projects, the official added.

Last year, due to an increase in power requirement, the railways had to cancel more than 700 passenger trains to allow faster transportation of coal-laden trains to meet the demand.

The Ministry of Railways faced strong criticism from the power sector for not supplying enough freight rake to transport coal during the summer of last year. Against a demand of 441 rakes per day, railways has been able to allot 405, as per the latest data from the railway ministry.

Indian Railways is planning to buy 1,00,000 more wagons over the next three financial years. The procurement plan will majorly consist of Boxn wagons, which are used to transport coal, a senior ministry of railways official said.

India’s peak power demand is expected to reach 230 GW in 2023, having already touched 211 GW in January, which was close to an all-time high of 216 GW in April 2022.

The production of wagons has more than doubled—till January of the 2022-23 financial year with production of over 17,000 wagons—and nearly 50 per cent of these are meant for carrying coal, said the official.

The power ministry recently directed all imported coal-based thermal plants to function at full capacity between 16 March and 15 June to meet electricity demand.