Latest News | MCRL's Phase-I Likely to Be Operational in 2022

Bhubaneswar, Jul 11 (PTI) The 14-km long phase-I (Angul-Balaram) of Mahanadi Coal Railway Limited (MCRL) is expected to be operationalised by 2022, an official statement said.

This will help in faster evacuation of coal from MCL mines in Odisha's Talcher Coalfields.

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The MCRL's Phase-II (Balram-Jarpada-Tentuloi) of 54 Km is expected to be commissioned by December 2025 and it will provide connectivity to allocated coal blocks on the southern side and central part of Talcher Coalfields, it said.

Noting that the Phase-II construction work is progressing rapidly, the statement said that notification for land acquisition and forestry clearances have been obtained. This railway line will cater to evacuation of coal from Coal India Limited and non-CIL Coal Blocks in Talcher Coalfields.

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The MCRL rail corridor will be a game changer in the evacuation of coal from Talcher coalfields, it said adding that the facility (rail corridor) will improve faster movement of coal rakes to Paradip and Damra ports thereby decongesting rail network.

This will also reduce transportation cost considerably. Shipping routes are much cheaper compared to rail network and improves coal availability in southern and western region of the country, the statement said.

Talcher Coal?elds of Mahanadi Coal?eld is one of the largest with about 52 BT of coal resources, which is 15 per cent of total prognosticated coal resources in the country. Of the available resources in Talcher Coalfield, more than 63 per cent (33 BT) lies within 300 metre depth, presenting significant potential for open cast mining.

Talcher coalfields has produced more than 95 Million Tonne (MT) coal during FY22 and likely to produce about 200 MT in FY 2024-25 and about 300 by FY 2030 from Mahanadi Coalfields Limited and allocated coal blocks.

“To ensure efficient coal evacuation, construction of rail line started in a phased manner in Talcher Coalfields namely MCRL (Mahanadi Coal Railway Limited),” it said.

The Ministry of Coal has identified construction of MCRL Phase I & II project as high Impact project under PM Gatishakti.

Mahanadi Coal Railway Limited (MCRL) was incorporated on August 31, 2015 with 64 per cent share of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), 26 per cent of IRCON and 10 per cent share of Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha (IDCO).

The alignment of the project traverses through Angul district in Odisha. Angul and Jarapda are existing stations of Indian Railways network. Balram is an existing loading station in Talcher–Balram private siding of MCL.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)