Vinod Bhat
Ministry of Railways, with a goal of transforming Indian Railways into Green Railways by 2030, has taken a number of major initiatives towards mitigation of global warming and combating climate change. Railway Electrification, improving energy efficiency of locomotives & trains and fixed installations, green certification for installations/stations and switching to renewable sources of energy are parts of its strategy of achieving net zero carbon emission.
Indian Railways has undertaken some major initiatives to Go Green. The details of the areas/activities identified and their present status are as under:
Solar power: Non-traction + Traction: Total Installed Capacity is 216.36 MW
| Capacity Commissioned (MW) | |
| Commissioned till March’2014 | 3.68 |
| Commissioned during 2014- Dec’23 | 155.98 (rooftop) 56.7 (land based) |
During 2023, 71.37 MW solar power (21.37 on rooftop+ 50 MW on land) was provided.
Wind power: Total Installed Capacity is 103.4 MW
| Capacity Commissioned (MW) | |
| Commissioned till March’2014 | 10.5 |
| Commissioned during 2014-23 | 92.9 |
| Total | 103.4 |
As part of commitment to reduce carbon footprints, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Indian Railways, Government of India and United States Agency for International Development/India (USAID/India) on 14th June, 2023 for collaboration on Renewable energy and Energy efficiency.
