Sambalpur: State-run Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), has recorded the highest-ever coal despatch by rail-mode, with 102 rakes chugging from Ib Valley and Talcher Coalfields to various power stations in a single day, said an official statement released on Tuesday. PK Sinha, MCL's Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), complimented the teams involved in achieving the record despatch through environment-friendly rail-mode. "It is an impressive performance by Team MCL, with equally great coordination and support from the Indian Railways," said Sinha, congratulating all team leaders and their teams for executing their work with great sense of responsibility to meet the energy requirements of the nation.
Recording the highest-ever despatch of 61 rakes from Talcher coalfields on August 30, MCL supplied 5.3 lakh tonnes of coal to consumers, out of which more than 4 lakh tonnes of coal was despatched to various thermal power stations. Besides, 16 rakes were despatched through MGR (merry-go-round) mode and more than 1.15 lakh tonne was supplied through trucks to various consumers.
The news comes just days after Power Secretary Alok Kumar chaired a review meeting to address the issue of low coal stocks in thermal power plants. The government has also set up a core management committee, comprising of representatives from the ministry, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Coal India Ltd (CIL) to undertake monitoring on a daily basis.
MCL is the second-largest coal producing company in India, having mining operations spread over Jharsuguda, Sundergarh and Angul districts of Odisha. "Carrying forward the vision of sustainable mining, MCL is implementing nine First-Mile Connectivity projects to provide pollution-free state-of-the-art rake loading system at a total expenditure of Rs 3,600 crore," said the statement. This will generate an additional despatch capacity of 126 million tonnes per annum by the year 2024.
MCL was the first coal company to introduce environment-friendly surface mining technology in 1999. The biggest fleet of 66 surface miners is contributing 95 percent to the total coal production of the company, said the statement.
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