Foundation Laid for Karo and Konar Coal Handling Plants by Satish Chandra Dubey

The plants will enable coal to be directly transported from mines to nearby railway circuits, replacing the current road transportation system.

Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines, Shri Satish Chandra Dubey, laid the foundation stone for the Karo Coal Handling Plant and Konar Coal Handling Plant in the Bokaro and Kargali areas of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) yesterday. These projects, with a combined capacity of 12 million tonnes per annum (Karo - 7 million and Konar - 5 million), aim to significantly enhance coal transportation efficiency in the region.

Key dignitaries, including Shri Chandra Prakash Chaudhary, Member of Parliament (Giridih), Shri Kumar Jayamangal (Anoop Singh), MLA (Bermo), Shri PM Prasad, Chairman of Coal India Limited, and Shri Nilendu Kumar Singh, CMD of CCL, along with senior officials, labour union representatives, and other stakeholders, attended the event. During the ceremony, Minister Dubey also took part in the "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam" campaign by planting saplings at the Konar project site.

First Mile Connectivity Projects

These coal handling plants represent a major initiative under First Mile Rail Connectivity, aimed at modernizing the coal transport process. The plants will enable coal to be directly transported from mines to nearby railway circuits, replacing the current road transportation system. This improvement will expedite coal delivery to thermal power plants and other consumers across the country.

Konar Coal Handling Plant

The Konar plant will feature a 5 million tonnes per annum capacity system, including a hopper, crusher, a 10,000-tonne coal storage bunker, and a 1.6 km conveyor belt. The conveyor will feed coal into a 1,000-tonne capacity silo bunker, from where it will be loaded into railway wagons. The project, with a total investment of ₹322 crore, will reduce the current rake loading time from 5 hours to just 1 hour, speeding up coal dispatch and improving rake availability.

Karo Coal Handling Plant

The Karo plant, with a 7 million tonnes per annum capacity, will include similar infrastructure: a hopper, crusher, a 15,000-tonne storage bunker, and a 1 km conveyor belt. This plant will transfer coal to railway wagons via a 4,000-tonne silo bunker, with an investment of ₹410 crore. Like Konar, the Karo plant will also reduce loading time from 5 hours to 1 hour, leading to faster dispatch of coal.

Environmental and Operational Benefits

Both plants will operate as closed-loop, fully mechanized systems, eliminating road transportation, thus significantly cutting diesel consumption, reducing dust, and mitigating vehicle-borne pollution in the region. These advancements are expected to bring greater efficiency, sustainability, and speed to India's coal dispatch system.