The first phase of the 68 km long Inner Rail Corridor under construction by Mahanadi Coal Railway Limited (MCRL) in Odisha has neared completion with 95 per cent progress.

While phase -1 Angul - Balram Rail Link is 14 km long, phase -2 Balram - Putugadia - Jarapada - Tentuloi Rail Link extends for 54 km.

Land acquisition is under process by IRCON for the second phase.

This project intends to provide a common rail corridor for evacuating coal from both CIL and non-CIL coal blocks in the Talcher Coal Field Area.

This project will also provide multiple entries and exit points for coal rakes for faster evacuation of coal and decongest the Indian Railway system by avoiding the concentration of rakes at the limited entrance and exit routes from Talcher Coal Field.

For phase -2 of this project, land acquisition is being done under Railway Amendment Act 2008. E-gazette notification under Section 20A (i) for tenancy and Govt. Non-Forest Land was published on 10 June.

Stage-I forest clearance was obtained in December 2021. Compliance with observation for Stage-II clearance has also been submitted. The Principal Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Bhubaneswar, has also approved the site specification wildlife management plan in June 2022.

The government plans to produce 182.29 MT and 87.50 MT coal from CIL coal blocks and Non-CIL coal blocks, respectively, in the Talcher area by 2030.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Monday (8 August).