| Abstract |
This study aims to explore and propose viable infrastructural and systemic options for the Indian Railways (IR) to gain a market share of imported coal traffic at Indian ports. The study begins by understanding coal loading and unloading at various major and minor ports as available through various secondary/public-domain data sets.
On the market front, the major users of coal are identified (power, steel, and cement producers) and comparative costs of various possible modes of coal transport are studied. Steel plants require coking coal (about 50 million tons), while power plants require thermal coal (about 500 million tons). The imported thermal coal has reduced ash content and provides a higher calorific value. Coal is imported from Australia and China. This helps in identifying the location of primary users of imported coal and the port(s) of import.
Some of the issues like breakeven cost assessment between rail and other modes, and nature of infrastructural and systemic requirements would be identified through an indepth study of one major and one minor port.
The strength of IR in domestic coal transportation can also be leveraged. Coal constitutes over 45 per cent of IR traffic, both in tonnage and revenue. In domestic coal movement, IR has a market share of 68 per cent.
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