
As India braces for hotter days, Railways to add more coal rakes to avert power crisis
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: As India braces for a hotter-than-normal summer, the railway ministry is set to increase the availability of rail rakes for coal transportation in FY26. The average number of rakes deployed is expected to rise to 470 daily from last year’s440 rakes, said two people in the know of the matter.
One rake, comprising several wagons, can transport around 4,000 tonnes of coal. Railways serves as the primary mode of transportation for the fuel. "Currently, around 415 rakes are transporting coal daily for power generation.
With projections of high demand going ahead, there is largely a consensus that 469-470 rakes would be required in FY26, which the Indian Railways would provide," said one of the two people mentioned above. Ministries of power, coal and railways have been consulting on the availability of coal and the logistics to meet the anticipated surge in demand. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has projected peak power demand to reach 270 GW this summer—significantly higher than last year’s record 250 GW.
The power ministry has estimated that domestic coal-based power plants will require 906.1 million tonnes (MT) of coal in FY26, higher than 874 million needed in FY25. In a written reply in Parliament last month, Union minister for coal and mines G. Kishan Reddy confirmed that the coal ministry had conveyed its plan to meet these requirements.
Coal supplies are monitored by an inter-ministerial sub-group comprising representatives from ministries of power, coal and railways, as well as the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Coal India Ltd (CIL) and Singareni Collieries Co. Ltd (SCCL). This group meets regularly to assess and manage coal logistics.
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