WCL to double coal dispatch to 50 rakes per day from Jan 2021

• The coal PSU has outlined 'Mission 100 Days' agenda to streamline activities under which it aims to reach peak despatch of 50 rakes per day

• Out of 50 rakes, 43-44 rakes will be sent through CR, 4-5 by SECR and 2 will be dispatched by SCR

New Delhi: Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd (CIL), has drawn up an ambitious roadmap to almost double its coal despatch capacity and increase it to 50 rakes per day from January 2021. The coal PSU has outlined 'Mission 100 Days' agenda to streamline activities under which it aims to reach peak despatch of 50 rakes per day, with support from Railways, to meet growing demand from power consumers. A meeting in this regard took place between WCL and officials of Central Railway (CR) on Tuesday.

Also read: Coal linkage rationalisation: WCL offers 20-25 MT of cheaper coal to state gencos, NTPC, IPPs

"With expected substantial increase in demand, WCL has taken pro-active steps to gear up additional coal crushing, transporting and loading facility for increasing coal despatch through rail to a level of 50 rakes per day from next January. This is under the Mission 100 Days programme which started on September 5 and will go on till December 15, 2020. This will increase average loading during the year to 40 rakes per day and a peak of 50 rakes. The average of 2019-20 was 23 rakes and the peak was 29 rakes per day. The current year average till now is 19 rakes per day due to less coal demand," an official spokesperson for WCL told PSU Watch. 

WCL to dispatch 43-44 coal rakes through Central Railway

WCL dispatches about 90 percent coal through Central Railway (CR), followed by South East Central Railway (SECR) and South Central Railway (SCR). Out of 50 rakes, 43-44 rakes will be sent through CR, 4-5 by SECR and 2 will be dispatched by SCR. In a discussion held with CR officials, a detailed roadmap has been drawn on maximum use of sidings, use of goods shed of Railways, availability of sufficient rakes, and its timely loading. The CR, on its part, has assured all help to WCL in doubling rake dispatch. 

All area general managers, concerned HODs have been sensitised to take immediate action to complete the awarding of contracts for additional crushing and transporting of coal along with weighbridges and maintenance of roads between coal stock and sidings within the next 100 days.

The backdrop

WCL had recently offered additional coal to power consumers of Central, West and South India at a cheaper landed price. Upon discussion with state gencos of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, NTPC and IPPs, WCL expects additional coal demand of around 25 Million Tonnes (MT) per annum from these consumers after coal linkage rationalisation. 

WCL had produced 57.6 MT of coal and dispatched 52.5 MT of coal during 2019-20. With a coal stock of over 14 MT in the beginning of 2020-21 and a production target of 62 MT this year, WCL will have more than 75 MT of coal available for its consumers. WCL has planned to reach 75 MT of production by 2023-24, followed by 100 MT by 2026-27. With the existing huge coal stock and an increase in production in the current fiscal and beyond, a huge jump is required in rake despatch to consumers to ensure the availability of coal to consumers.

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