Coal Ministry to take up 19 additional First Mile Connectivity projects

The Ministry of Coal will undertake an additional 19 first mile connectivity (FMC) projects for Coal India Ltd (CIL) and Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) with a capacity of 330 million metric tons, which will be completed by the fiscal year 2026–27.

The coal ministry announced on Monday that it has already undertaken 55 such projects (44 for CIL, 5 for SCCL, and 3 for NLCIL) with a total investment of Rs 18,000 crore. “Of which eight projects (6-CIL & 2-SCCL) of 95.5 MTPA capacity have been commissioned, and the remaining will be commissioned by FY2025,” the Ministry said in a release.

To ensure efficient and environmentally friendly coal evacuation in the future, the Ministry of Coal is developing the National Coal Logistic Plan, which includes first-mile connectivity (FMC) through railway sidings near coal mines and strengthening the rail network in coalfields.

In addition, the Ministry has set a target of producing 1.31 billion tonnes of coal by 2024–25 and 1.5 billion metric tons by 2029-30. It is critical for such ambitions to develop coal transportation that is cost-effective, fast, and environmentally friendly. “The Ministry has formulated a strategy to develop an integrated approach for eliminating road transportation of coal in mines and has taken steps to upgrade mechanized coal transportation and loading system under FMC projects. CHPs and SILOs with Rapid Loading Systems will benefit from crushing, sizing, and computer-aided loading, according to the release.