Union Minister for Railways and Coal, Piyush Goyal addressed the media on achievements in the last four years of Ministries under his charge, today in the presence of Manoj Sinha, Union Minister of State of Communications (Independent Charge) and Minister of State of Railways. Rajen Gohain, Union Minister of State of Railways joined through video conferencing. Shri Goyal released a booklet highlighting the achievements in the Railways and Coal Ministries, and also interacted with media present at 12 cities - Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Chennai, Guwahati, Imphal, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi.Shri Goyal informed that the Coal Production of Coal India Ltd. (CIL) has increased from 462 MT in 2013-14 to 567 MT in 2017-18. This 105 MT increase in production in four years took almost seven years to achieve before 2013-14. Drilling for exploration has almost doubled to 13.7 Lakh Metres in 2017-18 from 6.9 Lakh Meters in 2013-14. This will help in realising Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of 24x7 Affordable ‘Power for All’, which is a part of the New India vision by 2022.The Minister also talked about how the Ministry has worked for ensuring superior coal quality. Third party sampling procedure have been put in a place. UTTAM App has been launched for ensuring transparency and efficiency in coal quality monitoring process. Re-gradation of all the mines of Coal India Ltd and Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. (SCCL) has been done by Coal Controller’s Organization (CCO).
Focus has been on the cost of electricity through lower cost and higher quality, and the Specific Coal Consumption (amount of coal required per unit of electricity) has reduced by 8% in the last 4 years.The reforms in the country’s coal sector have contributed to enhancing energy capacity, efficiency, and security showcasing Government’s philosophy of “Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikas”. Commercial Coal Mining the most ambitious reform in Coal sector, has been approved by the Government, and will help in creating direct and indirect employment through higher investment and better technology. 89 Coal Mines have been transparently auctioned and allotted with 100% revenues to coal bearing States. The additional revenue generated will help these States to ensure economic development especially for the socio-economically backward and aspirational districts.Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India (SHAKTI), for auction and allotment of coal linkages, will lead to affordable power and transparency in allocation of coal. 16 Fuel Supply Agreements have been signed under this scheme. 45.18 MTPA has been transparently auctioned to non-regulated sector.Government has also focused on better transportation through synergies between Coal and Railways Ministries. Coal linkage rationalization in power sector resulted in total coal movement rationalization of 55.66 MT with annual potential savings of Rs. 3,359 Crore.Coal loading of Coal India has increased from 195 rakes per day in 2014-15 to 230 rakes per day in 2017-18. Timelines for time-bound execution have been set for 14 critical projects for evacuating coal. Further, to ensure adequate coal supply, Tori-Balumath Rail Section, a part of long awaited Tori-Shivpur rail line (44 Km.), was finally commissioned from 9th March, 2018. The Jharsuguda-Barapalli (53 Km.) rail line in Odisha has also been completed.