Lok Sabha Question No. 2159 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-04
Subject: Setting up of Kisan Rail
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Nihal Chand Chauhan, Jaskaur Meena, Bhola Singh, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Jayanta Kumar Roy, Raja Amareshwara Naik, Sukanta Majumdar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2159

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.03.2020

## SETTING UP OF KISAN RAIL

## 2159.   SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

SHRIMATI JASKAUR MEENA:

SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR:

Will the Minister of Railways be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Railways  has  proposed  to  set  up  the  Kisan  Rail through PPP Model and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether the Government has planned to build a cold supply chain for  perishables  by  starting  the  Express  and  Freight  trains  having refrigerated coaches and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  the  Railways  has  proposed  to  set  up  large  solar  power alongside rail tracks on the land owned by railways;
- (d)  if so, the details thereof along with the blueprint of the scheme;
- (e) whether the Railways has proposed to start more Tejas type trains to  connect  iconic  tourist  destinations  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof; and
- (f)  the steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

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 UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2159 BY SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO, SHRI NIHAL CHAND, SHRIMATI JASKAUR MEENA, SHRI BHOLA SINGH, SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR, DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY, SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK AND DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  04.03.2020 REGARDING SETTING UP OF KISAN RAIL

(a) and (b):     Yes, Sir.  Based on Budget announcement for 2020-21, a Committee has been formed under the aegis of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, which includes representative from Ministry of Railways also, to work out the modalities of Kisan Rail.

(c)  and (d):    Ministry  of  Railways is planning for installation of solar panels  on  unutilized  Railway  land  for  meeting  its  energy  needs  for both traction and non-traction purpose.  So far, a total of 3 MW has already been set up on railway's unused land.  Further, action taken for installation of Solar power projects on unused Railway land are as follows:

- (i) 50  MW  at  Bhilai  through  Railway  Energy  Management Company Limited (REMCL) in  South East Central Railway
- (ii) 1.7 MW at Sukhi Siwania in West Central Railway
- (iii) 2 MW at Diwana in Northern Railway

The solar power so generated, shall be evacuated to proliferate either by  connecting  it  to  Grid  or  feeding  it  directly  to  25  Kilo  Volt  (kV) Alternating Current (AC) Traction System.

In  addition to above, IR is further planning to proliferate land based solar  power  on  unused  vacant  Railway  land  having  no  commercial value  or  future  infrastructure  requirement once above pilot projects ../2

are commissioned successfully.  Blue Print for implementation of the project on larger scale is still under preparation.

(e) and (f): At present, 04 pairs of Tejas Express services are operating  over  Indian    Railways  system.  Two  of  these  namely 22671/22672  Chennai  Egmore -Madurai Jn Tejas Express and 22119/22120  Chhatrapati  Shivaji  Maharaj  Terminal  -Karmali  Tejas Express  are  being  run  by  Indian  Railways  and  while  the  other  two namely 82501/82502 Lucknow-New Delhi Tejas Express and 82901/82902  Mumbai  Central-Ahmedabad  Tejas  Express  are  being operated by Indian Railways Catering and Tourism  Corporation (IRCTC). Besides, in the Union Budget 2020-21, introduction of Tejas type trains connecting iconic tourist destinations, have been announced.

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