Indian Railways is going green in a big way and plans to become a net-zero carbon emitter by 2030, according to Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal.

Goyal spoke to news agency PTI at an event organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with the Railway Board. At the event, he emphasised that the action plan to achieve 100 percent of clean power for Indian Railways is in progress and can be achieved with collective efforts toward a common goal.

“Great things in business are never done by one person. Industry participation is as important in our mission as it is to make Indian Railways the newest, finest and safest railways in the world,” Goyal told PTI.

Indian Railways is the single largest consumer of electricity in the country, with an approximate 2 percent share of national energy consumption.

Recently, Mercom reported that Indian Railways is preparing to float tenders for the development of solar projects that will expand the company’s footprint in the Indian solar sector.

In October 2017, the company commissioned a total of 5 MW across the rooftops of Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi, Anand Vihar, and Delhi railway stations.

In February 2018, Indian Railways also announced it would launch tenders to set up large-scale solar power projects to help achieve its overall solar power target of 5 GW. The 5 GW capacity will consist of utility-scale and rooftop solar power projects.

Attracted by the low tariffs at Rewa Solar Park in the state of Madhya Pradesh, Indian Railways is reportedly planning to set up a 1 GW solar power park in the state. The railway company operates over 8,000 stations spanning across the length and breadth of the country.

The infrastructure and space available along with declining costs of installing solar has opened avenues for the Indian Railways to develop rooftop and ground-mount solar projects .

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