Ministry of Coal Undertakes Thirteen Railway Projects Under PM-Gati Shakti

In order to create a cleaner environment in coal transportation, the Ministry of Coal has accelerated rail evacuation and launched new initiatives to gradually move away from coal transportation by road in the country. Construction of new broad gauge rail lines in greenfield coal-bearing areas, as well as extending rail linkages to newer loading ports and, in some cases, doubling and tripling rail lines, will significantly increase rail capacity.

In October 2021, the Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi launched Gati Shakti, a nation master plan for infrastructure development, with the goal of bringing together many Ministries and facilitating integrated planning and implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. It will include several Ministries' and State Governments' infrastructure plans, as well as rely heavily on technology, particularly spatial planning tools.

The Ministry of Coal has launched 13 railway projects to enhance multimodal connectivity in line with PM Gati Shakti's goal, and has identified missing infrastructure gaps for each project. Four railway projects that will be developed in the states of Jharkhand and Odisha and will facilitate coal movement with rapid logistics and wider connectivity for all commercial miners have been successfully mapped in the NMP portal under High Impact projects.

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