Mahanadi Coal Railway to go full steam ahead on Phase-II

The Ministry of Coal has completed the construction of Mahanadi Coal Railway Ltd (MCRL) Phase I & II as a high Impact project under Prime Minister Gatishakti. MCRL is a dedicated fuel evacuation corridor from the Talcher Coalfields under Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd.

Talcher is one of the largest coalfields, with approximately 52 GT of coal reserves, or 15% of the total predicted coal reserves in the country. Of the available resources at Talcher Coalfield, more than 63% (33 BT) are located at less than 300 meters depth, offering significant potential for opencast mining.

Talcher Coalfields produced over 95 million tonnes of coal during FY22 and is expected to produce approximately 200 mt in FY 2024-25 and approximately 300 mt in FY 2030. To ensure efficient coal evacuation, the railway construction was started in phases. Mahanadi Coal Railway was established in 2015 with a 64% share owned by Mahanadi Coalfield (MCL), 26% by IRCON and 10% by the Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha (IDCO).

The alignment of the project traverses the Angul district in Odisha. MCRL Phase I (Angul-Balram) with a length of 14 km is expected to be commissioned this year and MCRL Phase II (54 km) is expected to be commissioned in December 2025.