A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Ministry of Railways and Coal India Limited here today. The MoU will lead to procurement of 2000 wagons (33 rakes) in the first outgo. The agreement was signed in the presence of Union Minister for Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Coal, Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri Piyush Goyal Union Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha. Shri U.C. Joshi, Executive Director Freight Marketing on behalf of Ministry of Railways and Shri T.K. Sinha, General Manager, Project Monitoring Division on behalf of Coal India Limited signed the MoU.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister for Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said that this is a path-breaking agreement which will result into speedy supply of wagons for coal loading in dedicated circuits. Shri Prabhu informed that the initial investment of Rs. 500 crore will lead to anticipated investment of Rs. 5000 crore. Stating coal as mainstay of Railways, the Minister informed that the two-third of its revenue comes from the coal. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Coal, Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri Piyush Goyal said that the MoU will help in fulfilling the 1 billion tonne target of Coal India. Appreciating Ministry of Coal, the Minister said that there is no single power plant in the country today that falls in critical category. This became possible only because of the support of Ministry of Railways. Shir Goyal defined this MoU as first step in large partnership with the Ministry of Railways to serve people of India.
Speaking on the occasion, Member Traffic Railway Board Shri Mohd. Jamshed said that it is indeed a historic day today when two key economic Ministries of Govt. of India i.e. Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Coal have joined hands for facilitating increased transportation of coal through rail. Under the leadership of Hon’ble Minister of State for Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal, Coal India Ltd is targeting production of 1 Billion Tonnes of coal by 2020. Wagon availability will be a key factor for achieving this target by Coal India Ltd. By signing of the MOU today, Railways and Coal India Ltd will be entering into a strategic partnership which would ensure adequate wagon availability for meeting the transportation needs of coal produced by Coal India Ltd. This strategic partnership between Railways and Coal India Ltd would not have been possible but for the motivation and guidance provided by both the Hon’ble Ministers. Today’s MoU will lead to procurement of 2000 high capacity wagons (33 rakes) in the first tranche which will facilitate increased evacuation of coal from Coal India sidings. This win endeavor will benefit the economy as a whole and the Railways, the coal sector and power sector in particular.
The MoU will benefit the economy as a whole and the Railways, the coal sector and power sector in particular. The remarkable part of this strategic partnership is that the wagons will be procured by Indian Railways on behalf of CIL. These wagons will lead to additional loading of 8-10 tons per wagon as compared to the conventional wagons of Indian Railways.Initially, the rakes will be inducted and run in the 2 main coal loading Zones of IR i.e. South East Central coal sector and East Coast circuit. These rakes will be inducted in circuits for transporting coal from MCL Talcher & IB area and SECL to Paradip/Dharma ports, Vishakhapatnam area and the power houses of Nagpur/Raipur region. Under this strategic partnership, the wagons will be procured by Indian Railways on behalf of CIL, the maintenance of these wagons will be done by Railways at its own cost. Also, the brake vans will be provided by Railways itself.