East Coast Railway targets one million tonne fly ash movement during current financial year

Bhubanewsar: In a move to increase Railway’s share in the transportation sector and ensure modal transit from road to rail, under the guidance of General Manager East Coast Rail Shri Vidya Bhusan, Business Development Unit(BDU) of East Coast Railway met the representatives of Thermal Power Plants, Integrated Steel Plants, Alumunium Smelter Plants and Cement Plants for transportation of Fly Ash by Rail.

During the discussion, representative of the industries were advised to take advantage of 40% freight rebate granted on movement of fly ash by Rail. 100& utilisation of the fly ash as mandated by Ministry of Environment can only be ensured by the joint effort of the producer of fly ash, transporter and the end-users.

All those who participated in the meeting agreed to jointly make concerted efforts for utilisation of fly ash to 100% by taking advantage of the recently issued freight rebate. During the meeting, it was estimated that at least one million tonne of fly ash traffic can be moved by rail between the period October 2020 –March 2021.

The meeting was conducted through video conferencing link which was attended by senior officials from Commercial, Operating, Finance and Mechanical departments of East Coast Railway. Representatives from  M/s Tata Steel BSL Ltd., M/s GMR Energy Ltd., M/s NTPC, Kaniha, M/s NTPC/Simhadri, M/s Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd.Participated during the discussion.

BDU of ECoR is infrequent interaction with the customers and industries and exploring ways to increase miscellaneous non-bulk goods traffic through rail along with strengthening Railway’s share in traditional transportation patterns and also to attract more traffic to Railways.