TS wants rail line to Damarcharla thermal plant

Hyderabad: Telangana Transco and Genco Chairman and Managing Director D Prabhakar Rao on Monday requested the Indian Railways to take up double lane railway track development works up to the Damarcharla thermal power plant which is under construction in the old Nalgonda district.

The Energy official called on the South Central Railway (SCR) officials and discussed the issue of railway network required for the transportation of coal from Singareni Collieries to the power plant.

Rao urged the SCR officials for a double lane railway track from Kothagudem to Vishnupuram via Dornakal and Motamarri for the smooth flow of transportation of coal to the thermal plant once the plant is commissioned.

The Transco CMD said that the single lane track was already laid between Motamarri and Vishnupuri for the supply of coal to the nearby cement industries in Nalgonda district.

He brought to the notice of the railway officials that the existing single lane will not help in meeting the coal needs of the thermal plant.

It requires 50,000 tonnes of coal every day to generate power. Two-lane track will help in transportation of coal and help in meeting the regular demand.

Rao also requested the SCR officials to consider the demand for special railway line between Bhupalpalli and Uppal for transportation of coal to the Bhupalpalli thermal power project which started operations last year.

Currently, coal is being transported from Uppal to the plant through lorries which has put additional financial burden on the power generation companies.

The official said that Genco decided to set up a dumping yard at Uppal and coal will be transported to the plant through goods trains.

A detailed project report in this regard will be submitted to state and Union governments soon.

SCR Principal Chief General Manager K Shiva Prasad, Chief Manager D Nagya and Genco Directors Narsing Rao and Venkata Rajyam were also present in the meeting.