The ministry of coal has asked the Fuel Infrastructure Committee, constituted by the ministry of power, to look into issues related to better infrastructure for transportation of coal as the demand for coal was expected to increase considerably in coming years.
Speaking to Projectmonitor, coal ministry officials said that problems in transportation of coal had been affecting supply at many power stations and this situation would worsen if related infrastructure such as railways, waterways, roadways and ports were not developed apace with the capacity addition programme.
Further, as the requirement of coal at the end of the ongoing 11th Plan would outstrip availability, the coal import figure would also go up significantly, official said. So, the capacity of ports would have to be developed to handle the increase in coal imports, they added.
Meanwhile, FIC has also been asked to look at issues related to fuel transportation to gas-based power projects many of which are preparing to go on-stream with gas from KG basin. |