Angul-Balram rail line inaugurated in Odisha

Coal evacuation from the Talcher coal mines in Odisha's Anguli district will get a boost with the inauguration of the Rs 300-crore Anguli-Balram rail link.

The project launched 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 coal transportation by about 40,000 tonnes.

The project was built by Mahanadi Coal Railway Ltd, a joint venture between MCL, IRCON International Ltd and Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, (Odisha government's industrial infrastructure agency) an official statement said. The 14 km long Agul-Balram rail link is the first phase of a total 68 km internal corridor connecting Angul with Putugadia, Jarapada and Tentul and serving the coal mines of the Talcher coal mines.

MCRL will implement the inner corridor in two phases.  In the second phase, the Balram-Putugadia-Jarapada-Tentuloi rail link would be completed. IRCON is the implementing agency for the project, which is being developed at an estimated cost of INR 17K million. The commissioning of the first phase of the project increased MCL's capacity to ship coal with 10 rakes per day.  The rail link will also facilitate the evacuation of dry fuel in the Talcher coal mines to miners other than Coal India from the reserved blocks.