The construction of Tori-Shivpur-Kathautia railway line in Jharkhand is likely to add around 125 million tonnes (MT) coal evacuation capacity and help in reducing transportation of dry fuel via road, an official statement said on Wednesday.
Tori-Shivpur-Kathautia coal evacuation rail project -- envisaged by the coal ministry under PM GatiShakti national master plan -- is expected to be completed by March 2023. The project will link North Karanpura Coalfield in Jharkhand.
North Karanpura Coalfield, which falls under the administrative control of Coal India arm Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), has about 19 billion tonnes of the fuel resource.
Of the total estimated coal output of about 135 MT by FY25, around 85 MT is expected to be produced from North Karanpura Coalfield.
At present, coal produced at the North Karanapura is transported via Barkakana-Daltonganj railway line of the East Central Railway, connecting Gomoh and Dehri-on-Son via Barkakana loop.
Besides, a 44.37-kilometre Tori-Shivpur double railway line has been created by the Coal India arm.
"The development of third line on the same alignment is under construction at an additional capital of Rs 894 crore, which is likely to be operationalised by May 2023," the Coal Ministry said in a statement.
Further, 49-km new rail line --Shivpur-Kathautia-- has been envisaged and is being constructed through a project-specific special purpose vehicle, which will provide another exit for coal evacuation via Koderma to the trunk railway line from Howrah to Delhi.
The government is aiming to scale up the coal production target to 1.25 billion tonnes by FY25.
