SCCL reaps benefits of new railway line

The company is daily transporting about 40,000 tonnes along this new line.

Hyderabad: The 54 km long Kothagudem- Sathupally railway line laid jointly by the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and the Railways to transport coal is proving beneficial both in terms of commercial and environmental safety for the company.

Ever since the railway line started operating from May 20 last year, there has been a drastic increase in the transportation of coal between Sathupally and Kothagudem. The company is daily transporting about 40,000 tonnes along this new line.

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Earlier, using about 350 trucks, SCCL used to manage to transport about 25,000 tonnes of coal from Sathupally, that too till Rudrampur village and from there again, it was transported to Kothagudem. But now, the entire coal is being transported directly to clients through this new line, a senior SCCL official said.

This was possible due to the laying of the new railway line as through trucks, the company would have never been able to transport coal in such a large quantity, the official said.

“This new rail line is proving very beneficial for the company. It is helping in cutting down cost and time to a large extent. Earlier we used to spend Rs.180-200 on each truck, which has now come down to Rs.50. Moreover there is no need to hire trucks now,” officials said.

With this railway line becoming operational, the usage of trucks to transport coal from coal mines situated in Sathupally area has come down drastically, resulting in reduction in traffic hazards and pollution, they pointed out.

“Transport of coal from Sathupally to Kothagudem railway station through trucks was causing huge traffic problems and pollution. Now it has come down to a large extent. People are also happy as the trucks plying on the route used to cause damage to roads and accidents,” the official stated.

Singareni company has plans to transport about 120 lakh tonnes of coal from JVR opencast coal mine and Kistaram Opencast Coal Mining Project in the Sathupalli-Chintalapudi coal belt of Godavari Valley Coal Field to its clients and out of it, 100 lakh has to be transported along the the Kothagudem- Sathupally railway line and the remaining 20 lakh tonnes by road.

Even the Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on Coal Conservation and Development of Infrastructure for Transportation of Coal across the country submitted in the Parliament in March 2021, has recommended the usage of rail route for transporting coal and minimise the use of trucks. It has observed that 66 percent of the total coal in the country is transported by road, which is causing dust and air pollution. It recommended that transportation of coal through roads should gradually be done away with.

The 54 kilometers of track was laid at a cost of Rs.927.94 crore, wherein the SCCL shared Rs.618.55 crore and South Central Railways chipped in with Rs.309.39 crore. According to company officials, the Singareni company produces about 2 lakh tonnes of coal on a daily basis and transports 650 lakh tonnes of coal every year to about 20 thermal power plants situated in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other states.