BHUBANESWAR: Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) on Tuesday recorded the highest ever coal despatch by rail mode, with 102 rakes chugging from Ib Valley and Talcher Coalfields to various power stations in a single day.
MCL despatched 61 rakes from Talcher Coalfields on August 30, 2021 and supplied 5.3 lakh tonne coal to consumers, including more than four lakh tonne to the various power stations.Besides, 16 rakes were dispatched through MGR (merry-go-round) and more than 1.15 lakh tonne via trucks to various consumers.
MCL is the second largest coal producing company in India, having mining operations spread over in Jharsuguda, Sundargarh and Angul districts of Odisha.Chairman-cum-Managing Director, MCL, P K Sinha has complimented the teams involved in achieving the record despatch. “It is an impressive performance by the team MCL, with equally great coordination and support from Indian Railways,” said Sinha.
Carrying forward the vision of sustainable mining, MCL is implementing nine first mile connectivity projects to provide pollution-free state-of-the-art rake loading systems at a total expenditure of `3,600 crore. This will also generate a despatch capacity of 126 million tonne per year, expected to be achieved by the year 2024, he added.MCL was the first coal company to introduce environment-friendly surface mining technology in 1999. The biggest fleet of 66 surface miners is contributing 95 per cent to the total coal production of the company.