India's increasing coal production faces evacuation hurdle as several key coal-rail links stand delayed

New Delhi: A review meeting chaired by Additional Coal Secretary Rupinder Brar in September has revealed that multiple critical rail projects meant to evacuate coal from India’s largest coal-producing belts are running behind schedule due to local resistance, land and forest-clearance hurdles, and utility-shifting delays, pushing completion timelines beyond FY 2025-26.

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The minutes of the meeting show that despite repeated coordination efforts with state governments and rail agencies, progress remains uneven across corridors. The review covered ongoing projects being implemented through joint ventures such as JCRL (Jharkhand Coal Rail Line Ltd), CERL (Chhattisgarh East Rail Ltd), CERL Phase-II and CEWRL (Chhattisgarh East-West Rail Ltd), along with other line extensions connecting coalfields to power plants and ports.

Officials noted that several sections continue to face local agitation and rehabilitation disputes, particularly over compensation payments and resettlement packages. Some stretches have also been delayed due to the non-completion of power-line shifting and pending wildlife or forest-clearance approvals.

Deadlines extended across corridors

The ministry’s internal review recorded that project deadlines across multiple corridors have now been revised to FY 2025-26, extending timelines by up to 12–18 months in several cases. For instance, progress on the Jharsuguda–Barpali–Sardega rail link, key for transporting coal from Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), is missing completion milestones due to incomplete doubling works and encroachments near settlements.

Similarly, Chhattisgarh East Rail Ltd. Phase I — which connects the Korba–Kharsia–Dharamjaygarh–Korichhapar corridor — continues to face local resistance and delayed forest clearance on some stretches. The East-West Rail corridor, designed to link coal blocks in Raigarh and Korba districts to railheads, is also behind schedule, with authorities citing disruptions caused by heavy monsoon and incomplete land acquisition.

The review also flagged delays in Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL)-linked projects in Jharkhand, particularly the Tori–Shivpur–Kathautia and Tori–Shivpur–Hazaribagh rail corridors. Both projects have had their completion targets extended from March 2025 to March 2026, as per the revised timeline recorded in the minutes. Progress remains constrained by pending land acquisition, rehabilitation and forest-clearance issues, with stretches near Kathautia and Shivpur still awaiting approvals. Officials were asked to work closely with the Jharkhand government to resolve compensation disputes and accelerate construction to ensure timely coal evacuation from CCL’s key mines in the North Karanpura and Magadh–Amrapali areas.

In most projects, the minutes noted, “Joint ventures have been instructed to expedite resolution of field-level bottlenecks in coordination with state administrations.” Officials were directed to conduct monthly progress monitoring and to update timelines for each section in consultation with the Ministry of Railways and the concerned state governments.

Impact on coal movement and power supply

The delay in these evacuation lines holds implications for coal logistics, as India's coal production has been rising. These corridors are crucial for decongesting road transport and ensuring seamless supply from the mines of Coal India subsidiaries like SECL, MCL and ECL to thermal plants across central and western India.

Officials cautioned that unless coordination at the district level improves and clearances are fast-tracked, the benefits of higher coal output may not fully translate into improved dispatches.

Ministry calls for coordinated push

Chairing the meeting, Additional Secretary Brar directed implementing agencies to intensify engagement with state authorities and local communities to mitigate protests and expedite compensation. The minutes highlight the ministry’s stress on “priority resolution” of forest and revenue issues that have persisted in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha.

The Coal Ministry said the rail corridors under review remain of “strategic importance” for achieving the national target of 1.5 billion tonnes of coal production and ensuring efficient dispatch from new and expanded mines.

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