New Delhi: In a push towards eco-friendly coal transportation Coal India Limited (CIL) has planned a capital investment of around Rs 24,750 crore in the next few years on 61 First Mile Connectivity (FMC) projects. To come up in three phases, these projects combined will have a capacity of 763.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) when completed. The FMC projects involve the transportation of coal in mechanised piped conveyors from the production point to coal handling plants/silos with a rapid loading system where coal is loaded directly into rail wagons.
“It is essential that coal transportation is environment-friendly to improve the quality of life of people living in the proximity of coalfield areas. FMC projects offer benefits like suppression of dust pollution and carbon emissions. They also reduce the load on road transportation leading to safety. Other benefits include precise quantity and quality coal is loaded for consumers with minimal manual intervention,” said a senior CIL official.
Around 35 FMC projects will come up under the first phase, having a capacity of 414.5 MTPA and entailing investments of Rs 10,750 crore. Eight projects of 112 MTPA capacity are already operational. CIL is gearing up to commission 17 more projects of 178 MTPA by FY 2024-end. The rest 10 projects of 124.5 MTPA capacity are expected to be operative by FY 2025.
The second and third phase projects will see nine projects of 57 MTPA capacity and 17 projects of 292 MTPA capacity coming up, respectively. The investments on these projects will be about Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 11,500 crore, respectively.
Under the second phase, five projects of 21.5 MTPA capacity under construction are expected to be commissioned by FY 2025. The remaining projects are in different stages of progress with tenders issued and bid documents under preparation.
For the third phase, tenders have been floated for three projects of 65 MTPA capacity. Nine projects are to be executed through mine developers and operators (MDO). Phase three projects are anticipated to be commissioned by FY 2029.
Initially, CIL targeted coal mines having a production capacity of 4 MTPA and above under the first phase. After a pilot study conducted through NEERI on potential advantages of FMC projects in two major OC projects reflected sizable reduction in CO2 emissions, air pollutants, ambient noise levels and significant savings in diesel costs, CIL expanded the ambit and included mines producing 2 MTPA of coal and above in the subsequent phases.
Total eco-friendly coal evacuation would go up to 914.5 MTPA when all the 61 projects become operational by FY 2029, including the earlier capacity of 151 MTPA.