The 14-km-long Angul-Balram rail link, constructed at a cost of Rs 3 billion, has been inaugurated in Odisha.
The project is likely to enable Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) to increase its daily dispatch of coal by around 40,000 tonnes. The project has been constructed by Mahanadi Coal Railway Limited, a joint venture company of MCL, IRCON International Limited and Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha. The 14-km-long Angul-Balram rail link is the first phase of a total 68-km inner corridor connecting Angul-Balram with Putugadia, Jarapada and Tentuloi, which will boost the coal evacuation from Talcher coalfields in Angul district of Odisha. In the Phase-II, 54-km-long Balram-Putugadia-Jarapada-Tentuloi rail-link will be completed. IRCON International Limited is the implementing agency of this project, being developed at an estimated total cost of Rs 17 billion. The rail-link will also facilitate evacuation of dry fuel from the coal blocks allotted to miners other than Coal India Limited in Talcher coalfields.