Western Coalfields Ltd. (WCL) has plans to almost double its coal dispatch capacity through the rail mode, according to a statement.
WCL, an arm of Coal India, has set “Mission 100 Days” agenda to streamline activities to reach a peak dispatch of 50 rakes per day from January next year with support from the railways.
In a statement, the coal ministry said WCL has drawn up an ambitious road map to meet additional demand of consumers of power sector.
WCL said it expects additional coal demand of around 25 million metric tons per year (mtpy) from these consumers after getting swapped from other subsidiaries of Coal India and Singareni Collieries Co. Ltd. (SCCL).
With expected substantial increase in demand, WCL has taken proactive steps to gear up for additional coal crushing, transporting and loading facility for increasing coal dispatch through rail to a level of 50 rakes per day from next January.
“This is under Mission 100 Days program starting from September 5 to December 15, 2020. This will increase average loading during the year to 40 rakes per day and peak of 50 rakes. Average of 2019-2020 was 23 rakes and peak was 29 rakes per day,” the statement said.
Current year average is 19 rakes per day due to less coal demand until now. WCL dispatches about 90% coal through the central railway. WCL produced 57.6 million metric tons (m) of coal and dispatched 52.5 million mt of coal during 2019-2020.
With a coal stock of more than 14 million mt in the beginning of 2020-2021 and a production target of 62 million mt this year, the company will have more than 75 million mt of coal available for its consumers. WCL has planned to reach a production of 75 million mt by 2023-2024 and 100 million mt by 2026-2027.
