Lok Sabha Question No. 356 (STARRED), answered on 2020-03-18
Subject: Electrification of Railway Lines
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Uttam Kumar Nalamada Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.356 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2020

## ELECTRIFICATION OF RAILWLAY LINES

- *356. SHRI UTTAM KUMAR REDDY NALAMADA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government plans to electrify all rail lines by 2024 and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the length of the entire railway network in the country and the length  that  the  Government  proposes  to  add  during  the  next three years;
- (c) the details, including location and length of railway tracks that have already been electrified and that are yet to be electrified;
- (d) the estimated cost of electrifying all railway tracks by 2024;
- (e) the  current  annual  consumption  of  electricity  by  the  Railways and the estimated consumption once all the tracks are electrified; and
- (f) the  quantum  of  electricity  that  will  be  sourced  from  thermal power plants and from  renewable sources?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

## (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (f) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF  STARRED QUESTION  NO.  356  BY  SHRI  UTTAM  KUMAR  REDDY  NALAMADA  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 18.03.2020 REGARDING ELECTRIFICATION OF RAILWAY LINES

- (a) It  has  been  the  constant endeavour  of  Indian  Railways (IR) to undertake electrification of Broad Gauge (BG) Railway lines. Significant  progress  has  already  been  made  in  this  regard  and  IR  is likely to electrify all BG rail lines by 2024.
- (b) Railway network of Indian railways is covering 62,891 Route kilometer (RKM)  of  Broad  Gauge,  2,839  RKM  of  Meter  Gauge  &  1,685  RKM  of Narrow Gauge; total 67,415 as on 31.03.2019.

The completion and commissioning of any New Line, Gauge Conversion & Doubling Project depends on various factors like availability of funds, quick  land  acquisition  by  State  Government(s),  forest  clearance  by officials  of  forest  department,  shifting  of  infringing  utilities  (both underground  and  over  ground),  statutory  clearances  from  various Authorities, Geological and Topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project site, number of working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions, encountering unforeseen conditions like earthquake, flooding, excessive rains, strikes  of  labour, orders of Hon'ble Courts, situation and conditions of working agencies/contractors etc. and all  these  factors vary from project to project and site to site. Due to these varied factors, it is not possible to provide any confirmed length of Railway Network; which could be added during the next 3 years.

- (c) Zone-wise Route kilometers (RKM)/electrified RKM/balance RKM to be electrified (as on 1.03.2020) is as under:-

|   SN | RAILWAY       | Total BG RKM   | Electrified BG RKM   |   Balance BG RKM yet to be electrified |
|------|---------------|----------------|----------------------|----------------------------------------|
|    1 | Central       | 3,853          | 2,928                |                                    925 |
|    2 | East Coast    | 2,771          | 2,632                |                                    139 |
|    3 | East central  | 3,883          | 3,229                |                                    654 |
|    4 | Eastern       | 2,804          | 2,149                |                                    655 |
|    5 | North Central | 3,222          | 2,569                |                                    653 |

| SN   | RAILWAY            | Total BG RKM   | Electrified BG RKM   | Balance BG RKM yet to be electrified   |
|------|--------------------|----------------|----------------------|----------------------------------------|
| 6    | North Eastern      | 2,994          | 1,677                | 1,317                                  |
| 7    | Northeast Frontier | 4,112          | 319                  | 3,793                                  |
| 8    | Northern           | 7,057          | 4,816                | 2,241                                  |
| 9    | North Western      | 5,083          | 1,666                | 3,417                                  |
| 10   | South Central      | 6,058          | 3,744                | 2,314                                  |
| 11   | South East Central | 2,099          | 1,863                | 236                                    |
| 12   | South Eastern      | 2,713          | 2,392                | 321                                    |
| 13   | Southern           | 4,834          | 3,381                | 1,453                                  |
| 14   | South Western      | 3,566          | 731                  | 2,835                                  |
| 15   | West Central       | 3,010          | 2,496                | 514                                    |
| 16   | Western            | 4,805          | 2,445                | 2,360                                  |
| 17   | Kolkata Metro      | 27             | 27                   | 0                                      |
|      | TOTAL              | 62,891         | 39,064               | 23,827                                 |

- (d) Approximate  estimated  cost  for  electrifying  balance  BG  routes  of Indian Railways is ` 30,000 crore.
- (e) Annual  consumption  of  electricity  for  traction  purpose  by  Indian Railways  (IR)  during  2019-20  (till  December,  2019)  is  about  13.80 Billion  Units  and  estimated  electricity  consumption  after  complete electrification of railway tracks is about 30.13 Billion units.
- (f) The future electricity sourcing of IR for traction purpose from thermal and  renewable  sources  is  dependent  upon  the  energy  mix  of  the Country at that stage.

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