Indian Railways Will Invest $150 Bn, Generate 1 Lakh Jobs; Launches 1st Solar Plant in Delhi!
Railways has already completed their first Solar Energy Plant installation at Delhi.
Indian Railways is right now cruising fast on their modernization drive. Under the leadership of Piyush Goel, who has recently become the new Railways Minister, several interesting initiatives have been planned, which will have long-lasting impact on the overall transportation industry.
With a new resolve, Indian Railways has declared that new investments to be made, which will generate lakhs of new jobs.
Meanwhile, a new step has been taken in the renewable energy front, which will set a new precedent for all Govt. departments.
Is Indian Railways finally on the fast track?
$150 Billion Investment; 1 Lakh Jobs
Right now, Indian Railways is world’s 8th largest and India’s largest employer with 13 lakh employees (as of 2015-16).
But in coming days, this will soon change.
Railways Minister Piyush Goel has declared that in the next 5 years, total of $150 billion will be invested, which is close to Rs 10 lakh crore.
This investment would be spread across infrastructure and engineering initiatives, and around 1 lakh jobs are expected to be generated due to this massive push.
The Minister said,
“During the next five years, the Railways alone will be looking at an investment of upwards of $150 billion. And when I translate that into jobs, I see a million jobs being created only through investments in the railway sector..”
To start with, every railway track in the country would be converted into electric line, within 4 years, which is 6-years earlier than schedule.
This single move will save Rs 10,000 crore per year in fuel cost.
Indian Railways 1st Solar Plant Launched!
In a big move towards Green Earth, Indian Railways has launched their first ever Solar Plant in New Delhi, which is expected to generate 5 megawatt peak (MWp) in the coming days.
Indian Railways has planned to generate 1000 megawatt peak (MWp) of energy via Solar Power, and this first installation of Solar Plant is seen as the first step.
Indian Railways has more than 7000 railway stations as of now, and if every station installs such solar plants, then it can break every record of renewable energy, anywhere in the World.
This first Solar Plant installation has been done over rooftops of Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi, Anand Vihar and Delhi railway stations, and is expected to generate 76.5 lakh units of solar power cumulatively per year, which will meet 30% of the overall energy needs of these stations.
This announcement was made during ‘International Conference on Green Initiatives and Railway Electrification’ in Delhi, where Minister Goyal said,
“We are working in a time-bound manner to skillfully and effectively transform the Indian Railways into a world class transporter. We shall be able to accomplish 100 per cent electrification at lower prices with an incentive-cum-penalty scheme..”
In July this year, Indian Railways had launched their first solar powered train, DEMU (diesel electrical multiple unit) train from the Safdarjung railway station in Delhi, which runs between Sarai Rohilla in Delhi to Farukh Nagar in Haryana. This train has 16 solar panels, each producing 300 Wp, across 6 coaches.
Govt. of India has already allocated Rs 8000 crore for installing solar plants across 7000+ railway stations.
We will keep you updated as we receive more news regarding this development.
Why didn’t they announce the same thing when came to power years back. Now people will become fool by believing in there words. My opinion is for Political benefits purpose only this was announced :p.