Lok Sabha Question No. 842 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-07
Subject: Reducing Carbon Footprint in Railways
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Behanan Benny

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 842 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2024

## REDUCING CARBON FOOTPRINT IN RAILWAYS

842.  SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  expedite  the  delayed projects  in  the  railway  sector,  considering  that  out  of  173 projects,  114  are  currently  facing  delays,  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is planning to reduce carbon footprint of the Railways;
- (c) if  so,  whether  the  burden  of  electrification  is  to  be  shifted  to electricity derived from fossil fuels such as coal; and
- (d) if so, the plan chalked out in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  842  BY  SHRI  BENNY  BEHANAN  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  07.02.2024  REGARDING  REDUCING CARBON FOOTPRINT IN RAILWAYS

(a):  The  completion  of  any  Railway  project(s)  depends  on  various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government,  forest clearance by officials of forest department, deposition of cost share by State Government in cost sharing projects, priority of projects, shifting of infringing  utilities,  statutory  clearances  from  various  authorities, geological and  topographical conditions of area, law and  order situation in the area of project(s) site, number of working months  in  a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions etc. and all these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project(s).

Execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/ partly in the State  of  Kerala  is  held  up  due  to  delay  in  land  acquisition  and  only about  25.45  Ha  land  has  been  acquired  out  of  total  requirement  of about 126.91 Ha.

Railway  had  initiated  efforts  for  acquisition  of  land  but  could  not succeed in acquiring land for projects. Support of the Government of Kerala is needed to expedite the land acquisition.

As  on  01.04.2023,  across  Indian  Railway,  459  Railway  Infrastructure projects  (New  Line,  Gauge  Conversion  and  Doubling)  of  46,360  Km length, costing approx. 7.18 lakh crore are in planning/approval/construction  stage,  out  of  which  11,872  Km  length has been commissioned upto March, 2023.

The Average Annual Budget allocation for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects across Indian Railways is indicated below:

| Period   | Average Outlay    | Increase w.r.t. average allocation of 2009-14   |
|----------|-------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 11,527 crore/year | -                                               |
| 2023-24  | 67,199 crore      | Nearly 6 times                                  |

The  details  of  commissioning  of  New  Lines,  Gauge  Conversion  and Doubling sections across Indian Railways is given below:-

| Period   | Total Commissioning   | Commissioning per day   | Increase in commissioning as compared to average commissioning during 2009-14   |
|----------|-----------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 7,599 km              | 4.2 km/day              | -                                                                               |
| 2022-23  | 5,243 km              | 14.4 km/day             | About 3.4 times                                                                 |

Various  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  speedy  approval  and implementation  of  rail  projects  include  (i)  setting  up  of  Gati  Shakti units (ii) prioritisation of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) close  monitoring  of  progress  of project at various levels, and (vi) regular  follow  up  with  State  Governments and  concerned  authorities for  expeditious land  acquisition, forestry and Wildlife clearances and for  resolving  other  issues  pertaining  to  projects.  This  has  led  to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014.

(b) to (d): Indian Railways has taken a number of initiatives to reduce its carbon emissions which include use of energy efficient technologies like  completely  switching  over  to  production  of three

phase electric locomotives and EMUs/MEMUs  with regenerative features,  use  of  Head  On  Generation  (HOG)  technology,  use  of  LED lights  in  buildings  and  coaches  and  use  of  star  rated  appliances. Further,  the  key  interventions  that  have  been  identified  for  reducing Carbon  emissions,  inter-alia,  include  procurement  of  power  through renewable  energy  sources,  shifting  from  diesel  to  electric  traction, and promotion of energy efficiency.

With  100%  electrification  planned  for  its  Broad  Gauge  (BG)  routes, Indian Railways plans to as far as possible, shift from diesel to electric traction.

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