Indian Railways aims to save Rs410bn (over $6bn) on electricity expenses by switching over to solar energy over the next 10 years, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said yesterday.
He said the ministry had prepared ‘Mission 41K’ to save electricity consumption charges by betting big on solar energy.
He was speaking after formally inaugurating various railway infrastructure projects at the Hi-Tech City railway station here.
The minister said efforts were also on to mop up Rs170bn through non-fare revenue modes. “We will not only cut the costs but will generate additional revenue,” he said.
Prabhu recalled that after taking over as railway minister, he had laid out a plan that energy should come down by 15%.
Claiming that about Rs40bn was saved on electricity consumption charges so far, he said the target of saving Rs410bn would be met by generating 1,000 megawatt of solar power in the next five years
“In addition, we have already started production of 26MW in wind energy. We are also working on converting waste to energy and commissioned two such projects,” Prabhu said.
The minister said 500MW will be produced by installing solar panels on rooftops of railway buildings and another 500MW through land based. “Traction power and non-traction power both will benefit from solar power and as well as reducing cost of energy.”
The ministry is drawing up plans for investment of Rs8.5 lakh crore. He claimed there was no financial problem for railways and that it had completely bankable projects.
He said the ministry was focusing on completion of existing projects. He called up on the state government to have joint ventures with railways to implement more projects.
The minister said every joint venture was being implemented on the basis of 25% equity and 75% debt. For every project, two or three top banks were preparing business plans.
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu flags off various railway infrastructure projects at the Hi-Tech City railway station in Hyderabad yesterday.
