Minister of railways, finance, corporate affairs and coal Piyush Goyal inaugurated Maharashtra State Power Generation Company’s (MAHAGENCO) pipe conveyor system for coal transportation from cluster of mines of Western Coalfields Limited (WCL).

The pipe conveyor system is aimed at developing a modern, efficient and eco-friendly mode of coal transportation from mines of WCL to the pit head power stations of MAHAGENCO.

The first pipe conveyor project of 6.3 km length is a dedicated system for Chandrapur super thermal power station of MAHAGENCO by taking coal from Chandrapur area and feeding to MGR at Padmapur.

The second project of 20 km length will have five feeding open cast mines of Nagpur area of WCL dedicated to Khaparkheda and Koradi power plants of Maharashtra State Power Generation Co. Ltd. The project is being carried out in two phases. Once completed, road transportation of coal will be stopped and 100 percent coal production from these mines of WCL will be transported through Koradi and Khaperkheda coal pipe conveyor.

The dedicated coal transportation system will be first of its kind in Coal India Limited (CIL). It will go a long way in mitigating environmental impact of road transport by eliminating dispersed coal dust and vehicular emissions. It will also help in avoiding coal pilferage and facilitate assured quality & quantity of supply of coal to power plants at lower transport costs.