The coal ministry, power producers in western and northern states are employing the rail-sea-rail (RSR) route to receive their coal supply from eastern India in order to avoid rail congestion and also to decrease coal imports. Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL) is where we find coal. The RSR route transports three rakes on average each day. To ensure supply and lessen reliance on imports, we plan to raise it to 12-15 rakes every day, the official said.
The gencos are being advised by the three ministries of coal, power, and railways to increase their capacity for rail-sea-rail transit in order to make coal from highly congested locations in Chhattisgarh and Odisha available. "Jharkhand's railway evacuation system is only moderately
developed. The availability of coal will increase if power producers in the west, north, and southwest transport even 5 to 10% of it from Paradip port by sea. Even though the coastal route is more expensive than the rails, he claimed that buying coal through RSR is still significantly less expensive than buying imported coal. According to the official, the price of coal, including transportation, often ranges between Rs. 4,700 and Rs. 12,000 per tonne from Odisha to Gujarat via RSR and imported coal of the same grade. "Coal from our mines can be transported through the sea route and significant savings can be done for the nation as a whole during peak seasons when the coal requirement is high and dependence on coal imports increases."
To two of its thermal power plants in Jhajjar in Haryana and Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, NTPC has begun transporting coal from Paradip. The finalisation of the bids for the power plants in Kudgi, Karnataka, and Unchahar, Uttar Pradesh, is underway. Even Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra made bids that are currently undergoing various phases of approval. He noted that whenever necessary, this extra capacity from MCL and South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) might be used.
As stated in a statement from the ministry of coal earlier this month, India's thermal coal import bill rocketed up 78% from 70,669 crore in FY21 to 1,25,746 crore in FY22, despite an increase in local coal production. Pralhad Joshi, India's minister of coal, stated last month that the country will have a coal surplus in the next two years and will begin exporting coal in 2025 or 2026.The government is urging expanded use of coal and increased coal output.
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