62 mallet: geology of darjiling and western duars. 



The cost of manufacture may therefore be taken at one rupi a ton, or 

 perhaps rather less.* 



The question of the profitable workability of the Darjiling coal 



Relative cost of Rani- ° f C0UrSe de P ends 0n whether {t ca * *>e delivered 

 ganj and Darjiling coal. for uge at Sukna ^ and ^ northem part of ^ 



railway, as cheaply as Raniganj coal; in other words, whether the 

 expenses of mining the highly inclined and much contorted Darjiling 

 seams, carrying the coal to Sukna, and converting it into usable fuel, 

 will not exceed the cost of the easily mined Raniganj coal, plus carriage 

 to the same place. I am indebted to Mr. Prestage, Agent of the 

 Eastern Bengal Railway, for the following estimate of the cost of 

 Raniganj coal delivered at Sukna via the East Indian and Eastern Bengal 

 Railways : — 



Rs, A. 



Cost per ton of Raniganj coal delivered at Samnaggar on the 



Eastern Bengal Railway 

 Loading at Samnaggar 

 Carriage to Kushtia 

 Unloading at Kushtia 

 Ferry across Ganges to southern terminus of Northern Bengal 



State Railway 



7 



12 







4 



3 



8 







4 







14 



12 10 



Carriage by Northern Bengal State Railway to Sukna, 200 miles 



(actual cost) ... ... ... ... 3 



Cost per ton at Sukna ... ... ... ... 15 10 



This route includes carriage from Raniganj to Biddabatti (106 miles) 

 by the East Indian Railway, transport across the Hugli to Sam- 

 naggar, carriage from Samnaggar to Kushtia (95 miles) by the Eastern 

 Bengal Railway, and transport across and up the Ganges (about 20 

 miles) to the Northern Bengal State Railway terminus, or in all 201 



* This is exclusive of the cost of machinery and plant, which Mr. Grant estimates at 

 about £900, for a daily outturn of 50 tons. 



( 62 ) 



