Bengaluru, Dec 28 (IANS): Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday urged Union Minister for Coal Piyush Goyal to rush coal blocks for three thermal plants in the state, said an official.

"Kumaraswamy sought Goyal's intervention to rush coal blocks to Raichur, Ballari and Yarmarus thermal plants in the state's northwest region, as stocks were dwindling in them due to shortage," said a statement from the chief minister's office in Bengaluru.

The chief minister also urged Goyal to direct the state-run Coal India Ltd in Kolkata and its subsidiary Western Coalfields Ltd at Nagpur in Maharashtra to supply coal to Raichur thermal power plant, about 500km from Begaluru.

"The coal stock at the Raichur plant is very low needs replenish it at the earliest," added the statement.

The 1,725mw Raichur plant has 8 coal-fired power generating units, including 7 units with 210 megawatt (mw) and one unit with 250 mw capacity, while Ballari plant has two units of 500 mw each and one unit of 700 mw capacity and Yarmarus plant in Raichur district has two units of 800 mw each.

As Goyal also holds the Railways portfolio, the chief minister urged him to build a new railway line from Bidar in the state's northern region to Nanded in the Maratwada region of neighbouring Maharashtra.

"As Bidar is a pilgrim centre for Sikhs and others with Guru Nanak Jhira Sahib shrine (gurudwara), the 154km track will help the railways run special trains for pilgrims and local people to travel in the Nanded circuit," said the statement.

Kumaraswamy's father and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda and his elder brother and state PWD minister H.D. Revanna were present at the meeting.

As Gowda is a Lok Sabha member from Hassan, about 180km southwest of Bengaluru, the chief minister urged Goyal to speed up pending rail projects in the region, connecting Mysuru and Mangaluru.