Green Railways by 2030
In order to reduce its carbon footprint, the entire Indian Railways network will be electrified by 2023. It will also instal 20GW of solar power by 2030
Indian railways moves 24 million passengers every day - a shade less than the population of Australia - on 13,000 trains, around 67,956 kilometres across the sub-continent. Add to that another 3.3 million tonnes of freight - 1,200 million tonnes during 2020/21 - daily, and the fuel needs are immense. As a result, the carbon footprint of the Indian Railways is mammoth. According to the railway ministry, the national transporter consumed 115.45 lakh kilo litres of high-speed diesel between 2014/15 and 2018/19. But, change is happening and that too rapidly.