960 railway stations now powered by solar energy

Slowly but steadily the Indian Railways is inching towards Net Zero Carbon Emission Railway by 2030.

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday (August 31) said that the Indian Railways has so far solarised 960 stations.

“In order to achieve its objective of becoming 100 per cent self-sustainable for all its power needs and also to contribute to national solar power goals, Indian Railways has solarised more than 960 stations till date,” said the Ministry of Railways while speaking to Zee News.

Varanasi, New Delhi, Old Delhi, Jaipur, Secunderabad, Kolkata, Guwahati, Hyderabad and Howrah stations are some of the most prominent stations that have been solarized.

Railways have placed orders for 198 MW rooftop solar plates for 550 stations.

By 2030, the Indian Railways plans to produce 33 billion units of solar energy for meeting all its energy consumption needs. At present, the railways need about 20 billion units of electricity.

The Indian Railways also have a plan to make optimum utilisation of its vacant land by 2030. 

“About 51,000-hectare vacant land is available with Indian Railways. We are now ready to extend all support to the developers for installing solar power plants on our vacant un-encroached land,” stated the Ministry of Railways.

Railways also aim to achieve 100 per cent electrification by the year 2023 and become a complete ‘Green mode of transportation’. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has time and again emphasized the need for complete solarization of Indian Railways and optimum utilisation of vacant railway land.