Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena Holds Review Meetings with State Government & Railway Officials

New Delhi (20/05/2023): Secretary, Ministry of Coal Amrit Lal Meena during his two day visit to Chhattisgarh held  high level review meeting with the top officials of the Chhattisgarh Government Raipur. With officials of South East Central Railway (SECR) at SECL Headquarters in Bilaspur  Meena took review of Chhattisgarh East Railway Limited (CERL) and Chhattisgarh East West Railway Limited (CEWRL) rail projects. The Secretary  inaugurated ‘Chhal’ rail siding in SECL,  Raigarh area and also took stock of  the progress of two rail corridors being developed on Special Purpose Vehic le (SPV) model in the state.

Amrit Lal Meena started his visit with a meeting with Amitabh Jain, Chief Secretary, Government of Chhattisgarh, at Mantralaya Mahanadi Bhawan in Raipur. The meeting was held to discuss different issues related to ongoing mining projects of SECL and to ensure better coordination with the state government for more efficient  operation of mines. Meena was accompanied by Vismita Tej, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal and SECL CMD Dr. Prem Sagar Mishra.

The deliberations were centered around  issues related to SECL’s operations including environmental clearances, forest clearances, land acquisition, cooperation from the state government for rehabilitation and resettlement especially in respect of SECL’s mega projects such as Gevra, Dipka, and Kusmunda. During  the meeting Coal Secretary  emphasized on time bound completion of the projects with effective  coordination  with the State government and other stakeholders.

Gevra Mega project of SECL recently became the first mine in the country to achieve 50 million tonnes of coal production. It is currently being expanded  to achieve 70 million tonnes of production which would make it the largest coal producing mine in Asia. S K Pal, Director Technical Operations, and S N Kapri, Director Technical (Project and Planning) along with higher officials from the state government were also present in the meeting.

Coal Secretary also held a meeting with General Manager, South East Central Railway(SECR) Alok Kumar in the presence of SECL CMD Dr. Prem Sagar Mishra at SECL Headquarters. The meeting was focused on evacuation of coal from Korba and Mand-Raigarh coalfields. Issues pertaining to SECL’s coal dispatch, availability of railway rakes, rail projects of SECL etc. were discussed in detail.  Senior functionaries of SECR and SECL were also present during the discussions.

On the second day of Chhattisgarh tour,   Coal Secretary Meena inaugurated the Chhal siding and flagged off the rail rakes. SECL CMD Dr. Prem Sagar Mishra and SECL Functional Directors were also present on the occasion.

Addressing the function,  Coal Secretary said that under the Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti Yojana, the infrastructure required for transportation of coal is being developed in the country and the new rail corridor will prove to be a  milestone in this regard. Meena called upon the local administration and the residents  to extend all possible support in meeting the country’s energy needs.

The Chhal siding has been constructed under Chhattisgarh East Railway Limited (CERL) Phase 1 project and will connect the Chhal mine of Raigarh region directly to the rail route and coal dispatch by rail will be done directly from here. The Chhattisgarh East Railway Limited (CERL) Phase 1 project, being built at a cost of more than Rs 3000 crore, aims to connect the Mand-Raigarh coalfields by rail. Under this 124 kms long project, the 74 KMs long mail line from Kharsia to Dharamjaygarh has already been commissioned. It also has spur lines from Gharghoda to Pelma and feeder lines from Chhal, Baroud and Durgapur.

.   In terms of coal reserves, Korba Coalfields is followed by Mand-Raigarh coalfields and as coal production expands, these rail projects will play an important role in dispatching more and more coal in the coming time.

On day two of his visit, Coal Secretary inspected the railway line being constructed from Gevra Road to Pendra Road under Chhattisgarh East West Railway Limited (CEWRL) project in SECL’s Korba coalfields. He along with SECL CMD Dr. Prem Sagar Mishra and SECL Functional Directors inspected bridge no. 3 of Urga Kusmunda Connectivity Line.

This project will play an important role in the transportation of coal from SECL’s mega projects operating at Korba coalfield. The project is 191 km long which includes the work of 135.3 km of main line. The project includes Gevara Road, Surakachhar, Dipka, Katghora Road, Bijhara, Putua, Mateen, Sendurgarh, Puttipakhana, Bhadi,  Dhangawan and Pendra Road stations. Passenger facilities will also be developed at these stations along with the railway line in the entire corridor. The total cost of CEWRL project is about Rs.4970 crore and land acquisition and forest clearance for its main line has been completed. The project is likely to be completed by December next year.