Two Ministries of the Centre—Railways and Coal—have signed a tripartite agreement with Jharkhand for setting up wider rail networks across the coal mines spread in the State. The agreement would give birth to a joint venture company with initial equity of Rs1,000 crore and form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for building 12 lines and railway sidings for Central Coalfields limited (CCl) operated mines.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) singed on Monday in the presence of Union Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal and his colleagues from Finance and Rural Developments Jayant Sinha and Sudarshan Bhagat, Chief Minister Raghubar Das besides heads of Coal India limited, IRCON and CCl, has formula for sharing the cost coming on the completion of the projects.
“The SPV would be formed with Rs1000 crore of equity shared 64 per cent by the Coal Ministry, 26 per cent by the Railways and the rest 10 per cent by the State Government. 12 railway infrastructure construction works have been identified in the coal command zone of the CCl,” CCl CMD Gopal Singh said. The construction work of the railway lines shall be undertaken only after process of land acquisition and environmental and forest clearances are completed and financial closures are achieved.
The railway lines and sidings to be built would help in evacuating coal mined in the State to various centres across the country to fire power plants and run big industries. Besides easing the fuel access, it would be beneficial in reducing vehicular pollution to a great extent along with cutting cost of transportation. Gopal Singh expressed hope that after the projects were completed, CCl would be able to take its production from present 55 MT to 150 MT.
Piyush Goyal, in his address, mentioned about much delayed project of Tori-Shivpur and Piparwar. “Rail has to play the most important part in making all the understandings related to NTPC, coal mines, Santhal solar park or skill development reached in two days successful. This particular MoU besides making new lines, would also complete several stranded projects such as Tori-Shivpur-Khathotia of approximately 92 kilometers. This would transport 20 crore ton of coal that can be used for generating gigantic 40,000 MW of electricity,” said the Union Minister.
Piparwar line had its scheduled completion in 1998 but due to several reasons it is still a work in progress. The Minister said that with new dispensation in place, the project would be completed by the end of 2015. The Chief Minister in his address termed the agreement as a team work between the Centre and the State. “My frequent Delhi visits have been critised quite often but this is why I go there. I want that the Centre pays more attention to the State which has been backward. I also appeal to the Railway Ministry to expedite the projects it has taken up here. Jharkhand wants fast paced development and the Centre has to understand the power lies with the State,” said Das.
Jayant Sinha said that bigger projects under the new regime had set the tone for speedy growth. “Much more are in pipeline for the States like Jharkhand. Smart cities are also in line and I am sure number of cities from the State would be included,” said he.