PSU miner Coal India (CIL) will invest Rs 3,370 crore to construct 21 additional greenfield and brownfield railway sidings in four of its subsidiaries by 2024. CIL at present has around 152 rail sidings and the tally would go up to 173 by then. South Eastern Coalfields will account for ten of the proposed 21 sidings followed by Central Coalfields with six, Eastern Coalfields will construct three and Bharat Coking Coal two.
“The sidings will give a fillip to CIL’s First Mile Connectivity (FMC) efforts, acting as effective coal evacuation outlets. The dovetailing of the existing and new rail sidings with rapid loading system silos of FMC projects will help improve loading quantity in future when production expands” said a senior company official. The PSU aims to move about 555 million tonne of coal per year through mechanised means, supposed to come up by 2024.
