NEW DELHI: In order to meet its energy requirements of over 33 billion units by 2030, the Indian Railways is mulling to set up 20 GW (gigawatts) solar power plants on its surplus land. Union Commerce, Industry and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said, “The Indian Railways plans to use its surplus land to generate 20 GW of renewable energy from ‘Made in India’ solar or wind equipment to fulfill its power network.”
The Union Minister said that the Indian Railways will be a 100 per cent electricity-driven rail network in the coming years which would make it the largest such network in the world.
“We plan to use a lot of our surplus land and land along the tracks to generate 20 GW (gigawatts)…’Made in India’ solar or wind equipment being used to give us 20 GW production capacity of renewable energy and enough KW (kilowatt) hours to power our entire railway,” Goyal said.
The Rail Minister said this while addressing COUNCIL ON ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND WATE (CEEW) India’s programme on ‘Powering Livelihoods: Transforming India’s Rural Economy with Clean Energy Solutions’.
