New Delhi pact to strengthen coal transport efficiency
Coal India Limited (CIL) has entered into a strategic partnership with Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) to expand and maintain critical rail infrastructure. The agreement, signed in the capital, is aimed at strengthening coal evacuation, reducing bottlenecks, and ensuring timely delivery to industries dependent on the resource.
According to officials, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) represents a long-term vision to align coal transport with modern logistics standards. For decades, coal movement in India has been constrained by inadequate connectivity, leading to costly delays and uneven supply to power plants and manufacturing hubs. The collaboration is expected to ease these pressures by creating a more integrated rail network tailored to the needs of the coal sector.
Industry experts note that the partnership has been designed not merely as an infrastructure expansion, but as a systemic upgrade to the country’s energy logistics. By leveraging Konkan Railway’s technical expertise and CIL’s scale of operations, the plan seeks to enhance efficiency across multiple subsidiaries of the state-owned miner. Improved rail access is projected to cut down logistics costs, reduce dependency on road transport, and ultimately make coal movement more sustainable.
CIL, which contributes over 80 per cent of India’s domestic coal production, plays a pivotal role in meeting the country’s power demands. Officials highlighted that the latest initiative will enable faster coal evacuation from mines to power plants, which is crucial as demand for energy remains robust across both urban and industrial centres. The partnership is therefore not just an operational upgrade but a backbone for energy security in a growing economy. At the same time, transport planners stress that expanding rail corridors for coal movement has a broader sustainability dimension. Road-based coal transportation is often associated with congestion, higher emissions, and safety risks. By shifting a larger share of evacuation to the rail network, the new plan directly contributes to the national ambition of creating greener, more energy-efficient supply chains.
The MoU reflects a wider trend in India’s infrastructure sector, where state enterprises are collaborating to address systemic inefficiencies. While coal remains a critical fuel for India’s energy mix, such measures also open pathways to eventually integrate cleaner transport modes, ensuring resilience as the country transitions towards low-carbon growth. For now, the New Delhi agreement underlines a pressing priority—making the coal sector’s logistics leaner, faster, and more future-ready.
