New Delhi, June 5 State-owned CIL on Thursday said eco-friendly coal transportation grew 34 percent year-on-year to 102.5 million tonnes in FY25.
This was made possible through 20 First Mile Connectivity (FMC) projects connected to the Indian Railways network.
In comparison, it was 76.5 MT through 17 such projects in FY24, Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in a statement.
A total of 19 FMC projects with a capacity of about 150 million tonnes per annum are planned to be commissioned during FY26.
The FMC initiative is an automated coal evacuation process that ensures eco-friendly coal transportation from the mine to the loading point in piped conveyor belts.
The key features of FMC include creation of mechanised coal handling plants equipped with coal crushers, where coal is sized to be determined, and rapid loading systems where precise quantities of quality coal are loaded into wagons, thereby avoiding over or under loading.
FMC replaces truck-based transportation at railway sidings and avoids manual loading through pay loaders. This reduces dust, noise and vehicular emissions, reduces road congestion and improves safety. Wagon turnaround time will also be reduced.
“We expect to transport an estimated incremental volume of 20 MT through FMC projects in the current fiscal,” a senior CIL official said.
CIL plans to commission 92 FMC projects of 994 MT/year capacity in a phased manner by the end of FY2029. The company aims to produce 1 billion tonnes of coal by FY29, so capacity is being built so that it can transport almost the entire volume in an environmentally friendly manner.
Coal India accounts for over 80 percent of domestic coal production.
