Electrifying 28,810 km of rail routes
Indian Railways (IR) has plans to set up 500 Mega Watt (MW) of Land based Solar plants, including those on its unused land, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha (Parliament) on 26 June 2019.
Out of the above, three MW has already been set up on Railway’s unused land.
Further, details where action has been taken for installation of Solar power projects on unused Railway land are as follows:
50 MW at Bhilai through Railway Energy Management Company Limited (REMCL). South East Central Railway (SECR) is the Nodal agency with Principal Chief Electrical Engineer as the nodal officer for this project. It is planned to commission this project by March 2021.
1.7 MW at Sukhi-Siwania in West Central Railway (WCR). WCR is the Nodal agency with Principal Chief Electrical Engineer as the nodal officer for this project. It is planned to commission this project by March 2020.
2 MW at Diwana in Northern Railway (NR). NR is the Nodal agency with Principal Chief Electrical Engineer as the nodal officer for this project. It is planned to commission this project by March 2020.
Separately, the Railway Ministry has planned to electrify balance Broad Gauge routes of Indian Railways by 2021-22, keeping in view the advantages of electrification and to achieve seamless operation on electric traction over entire Broad Gauge network. It involves 28,810 route kilometres.
Receipt of proposals for electrification of Railway lines from various States is a continuous process.
The Ministry has planned to electrify balance Broad Gauge routes of Indian Railways encompassing all the States. Balance route electrification work have already been sanctioned, said Goyal.
No new infrastructure for production of Diesel Locomotives has been proposed by Railways after the decision of 100% electrification in September 2018.
Diesel locomotives that will be manufactured at Diesel Locomotive Factory Marhowra shall be required by Indian Railways for strategic, emergency and certain operational reasons, he said. fiinews.com
