(FE)
Indian Railways bets on being environment-friendly! In a big environment-friendly step, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has stated that all broad gauge Indian Railways routes across India will be electrified in mission mode. The Railway Minister has said that around 1.27 per cent of the total electricity consumption of India is consumed by Indian Railways. Goyal has also revealed that Indian Railways also requires 3 per cent of High-Speed Diesel (HSD) oil for its energy requirements.
Goyal informed Lok Sabha that Indian Railways is taking several energy efficiency measures to curb the carbon footprint in order to protect the environment as part of its aim to be an environment-friendly mode of transport. Goyal while speaking during Question Hour said Indian Railways decided to electrify 100 per cent of its broad gauge rail routes in mission mode, as a green mode of transport. In 2018-19, Indian Railways consumed about 20.44 billion units of electricity and 3.1 billion litres of HSD oil for its energy requirement, Goyal said.
Earlier, Goyal told PTI that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked Indian Railways officials to use technology, that was developed via the central government’s Make-in-India project while executing the mega Rs 78,000 crore project. Goyal had also said revealed that PM Modi had emphasized on signaling and electrification. PM Modi said Indian Railways should focus on identifying the lines that required to be electrified first, Goyal said. The Railway Minister also said for prioritizing the lines for electrification, one must keep in mind that there should be more traffic and where was the maximum cost-benefit.
