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The Centre wants to run the Railways only on electricity in the near future.
The ministries for Power and Railways are working on a deal to electrify 3.5 million km of railway lines to eliminate the need for diesel locomotives. This was stated by Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New Renewable Energy, at an event here on Thursday.
“Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Railways, approached me saying he wants to push for electrification of railway lines and when I asked him for the cost to electrify the line completely, he said it will cost around ₹35,000 crore. I said the Ministry of Power will bear the entire cost as there will be no land acquisition involved,” said Goyal addressing a gathering of All India Management Association.
“The savings from not using diesel alone will be around ₹16,000 crore and the cost will be recovered in seven years. It is win-win for all as it also provides us with a market for surplus power. We will stop production of diesel locomotives in the country. That is another decision which I hope the Railway Minister will take soon,” he added.
The Minister added that the Power Ministry will help speed up the process of track electrification and electrify the entire railway network within three years.
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