Coal news and updates

High freight rates, rake shortage hit coastal coal shipping plan

Inadequate rake supply continues to haunt railways despite its numerous claims of intervention

At the peak of the coal shortage in May, the national transporter supplied barely 20 per cent of the rake capacity at Paradip port (Photo: Bloomberg)

The Union government’s plans to enhance coal transport and curtail coal demand-supply mismatch through coastal shipping mode are finding it difficult to take off. High rail freight rate for coal transportation from mines to ports and shortage of railway rakes at the ports have resulted in underutilisation of capacity at major ports, data accessed by Business Standard revealed.