Coal India registered an increase of 13.6% in its coal dispatches through Railways by transporting 31.48 million tonne of coal in October, as per the data provided by the coal ministry. The offtake was up by 7.2% from September.
The share of coal transportation through roadways and MGR (Merry-go-Round) remained low at 20.82 million tonne and 8.37 million tonne, respectively.
Further, the company ran almost 258 rakes per day to supply coal to the power sector as against 237.5 rakes in October last year. Movement of rakes per day to all the sectors, including steel and cement, among others, came to be at 278 compared with 246 in the same period a year ago.
Even though coal offtake from coal production companies through Railways is increasing, experts believe that the pace is slow and the key challenge of logistics still remain.
“Railway lines are there but the three railway lines which were in work should come into execution,” said Deepak Kannan, Global Head of Coal Pricing, S&P Global Commodity Insights. “More railway rakes are required and inland waterways should be planned so that coal movement becomes much smoother.”
Coal India has dispatched 51.06 million tonne to the power sector in the month of October, up 12% from last year. Coal dispatches to the cement and steel industry remained low at 0.36 million tonne and 0.24 million tonne respectively, the data showed.
CIL has produced 393.97 million tonne of coal till October of its annual production target of 780 million tonne for the current financial year from its 295 mines.