Evacuation of coal from Talcher coalfields in Odisha's Angul district is set to get a boost with the inauguration of the Rs 300-crore Angul-Balram rail link on Thursday.
The project, inaugurated by Union Coal and Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi, in the presence of his cabinet colleagues Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw, is likely to enable Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) to increase its daily dispatch of coal by around 40,000 tonne.
The project was constructed by Mahanadi Coal Railway Ltd, a joint venture entity of MCL, IRCON International Ltd and IDCO, an industrial infrastructure development agency of the Odisha government, an official statement said.
The 14-km-long Angul-Balram rail link is the first phase of a total 68-km inner corridor connecting Angul with Putugadia, Jarapada and Tentuloi, which will cater to coal mines of Talcher coalfields.
The inner corridor is being implemented by MCRL in two phases.
In phase two, the Balram-Putugadia-Jarapada-Tentuloi rail link would be completed.
IRCON is the implementing agency of the project that is being developed at an estimated cost of Rs 1,700 crore, the statement said.
The commissioning of the first phase of the project has enhanced the potential of MCL to dispatch coal by 10 more rakes daily.
The rail-link will also facilitate the evacuation of the dry fuel from blocks allotted to miners other than Coal India in Talcher coalfields.