The Indian Railways carried 482.57 million mt of coal from April 2016 to February 2017, down 4% from a year earlier, according to data released by the Directorate of Statistics and Economics Thursday.
Of the total volume transported by the Indian Railways during the first 11 months of fiscal 2016-2017, 413.56 million mt comprised domestic coal while 69.01 million mt was imported.
Volumes of domestic coal to thermal power plants declined by 15.53 million mt to 302.80 million mt in the period while imported coal delivered to thermal power plants stood at 6.21 million mt, down 14.4 million mt year on year, the data showed.
Coal accounts for around 50% of the overall railway freight traffic. The fall in coal volumes is due to various reasons, including low power demand and sufficient stocks at power plants.
Rationalization of coal supplies means that power plants are now getting coal from mines that are nearer. Also, coal imports are on a downtrend as domestic output rises.
Volumes of domestic coal delivered to steel manufacturers were up 460,000 mt in the 11-month period to 16.9 million mt.
However, imported coal delivered to steel plants were at 26.80 million mt in the period, down 4.59 million mt year on year.
Imported coal delivered to other users jumped to 36 million mt in the period, up 3.82 million mt year on year, while domestic coal volumes rose by 10.18 million mt to 92.74 million mt.
