Parliament Question: Railway Electrification and Green Transportation

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1624 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.07.2026 RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATION AND GREEN TRANSPORTATION †1624. SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO: SHRI DILIP SAIKIA: SHRI DINESHBHAI MAKWANA: SHRI VIJAY KUMAR DUBEY: SMT. KAMLESH JANGDE: DR. MANNA LAL RAWAT: SHRI RODMAL NAGAR: SHRI KRISHNA PRASAD TENNETI: SHRI LUMBARAM CHOUDHARY: SHRI ALOK SHARMA: SHRI RAJKUMAR CHAHAR: SMT. KAMALJEET SEHRAWAT: SHRI MUKESHKUMAR CHANDRAKAANT DALAL: SHRI JANARDAN MISHRA: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of the progress achieved in electrification of Railways and towards adoption of renewable energy during the last one year; (b) the details of the measures taken to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and improve energy efficiency through electrification, solar power generation and other sustainable initiatives; (c) the details of the initiatives undertaken to promote green railway stations, energy-efficient infrastructure and environmentally sustainable railway operations in the country particularly in Delhi; and (d) the expected contribution of these initiatives towards achieving the objective of making Indian Railways a net-zero carbon emitter? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d) Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, about 99.6% of Broad Gauge (BG) § Page 1 of 5network has been electrified. The electrification in remaining network has been taken up. Electrification carried out during 2014-26 and before 2014 is as under: Period Route Kilometer Before 2014 (about 60 years) 21,801 2014-26 48,072 Further, all new line / multi-tracking projects are being sanctioned and constructed with electrification. State/UT wise status of electrification including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh is as under: % % SN STATE SN STATE Electrified Electrified 1 Andhra Pradesh 100% 16 Mizoram 100% 2 Arunachal Pradesh 100% 17 Nagaland 100% 3 Bihar 100% 18 Odisha 100% 4 Chandigarh 100% 19 Puducherry 100% 5 Chhattisgarh 100% 20 Punjab 100% 6 Delhi 100% 21 Telangana 100% 7 Gujarat 100% 22 Tripura 100% 8 Haryana 100% 23 Uttar Pradesh 100% 9 Himachal Pradesh 100% 24 Uttarakhand 100% 10 Jammu & Kashmir 100% 25 West Bengal 100% 11 Jharkhand 100% 26 Rajasthan 99.8% 12 Kerala 100% 27 Tamil Nadu 98.3% 13 Madhya Pradesh 100% 28 Assam 97.9% 14 Maharashtra 100% 29 Karnataka 96.8% 15 Meghalaya 100% 30 Goa 91.4% Page 2 of 5Indian Railways (IR) has undertaken one of the fastest railway electrification programs in the world. While many countries prioritize electrifying only their busiest passenger and freight corridors, India has chosen to electrify its entire broad gauge network. Indian Railways’ achievement in railway electrification stand out globally. According to the latest report of International Union of Railways (UIC) of June, 2025, railway electrification in important railway systems is as under: Country Railway Electrification Switzerland 100% India 99.6% China 82% Spain 67% Japan 64% France 60% United Kingdom 39% By network coverage, Indian Railways is now among the most extensively electrified large railway systems in the world. Indian Railways had electrified 99.6% of its broad-gauge network, completing one of the world’s largest infrastructure transformation programs in a decade. Electric traction is not only environmental friendly but energy efficient also. Reduction in CO2 emissions in transportation by railways as compared to transportation by road is as under (Ref:- NITI Aayog Report titled “Fast Tracking Freight In India”, June 2021) Page 3 of 5Mode of CO2 emission for transportation of 1 tonne Transportation for 1 km Road 101 gm Rail 11.5 gm (about 89% less) Further, electrification of railway tracks reduces dependency on fossil fuels, decreased diesel consumption resulting in lower carbon emission. Electrification enables better haulage capacity and higher train speeds, leading to reduced travel time and enhanced efficiency. Reduction in IR’s diesel consumption for traction purpose by 185 crore litres with about 108 crore litres consumption in 2024-25 as compared to 293 crore litres in 2015-16. This has resulted in saving of precious foreign exchange with Government of India exchequer, which would have otherwise been needed for import of fuel which has been saved due to electrification. Electrified railways are well suited for integrating solar, wind & other renewable energy into traction power systems, making them most effective transport systems for utilizing renewable electricity. Indian Railways is committed to sustainable operations through near total Railway Electrification combined with use of renewable energy sources, based on strategic power procurement planning, thus contributing to carbon footprint reduction. Indian Railways (IR) has also taken initiatives to use of energy efficient technologies to reduce carbon emissions like completely switching over to production of three phase electric locomotives with regenerative features, use of head on generation (HOG) technology, use of LED lights in buildings and coaches, star rated appliances. Page 4 of 5In redevelopment process of stations, all environmental norms are duly considered, while sanctioning of Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for achieving sustainable modernization of stations. As on June, 2026, about 1161 Mega Watt (MW) of solar plants (both on rooftops and on land) and about 103 MW of wind power plants have been commissioned over IR. Indian Railways has envisioned to become net zero carbon emitter through the usage of non-fossil sources power, saving in diesel consumption by electrification of railway tracks, consistent efforts directed towards modal shifting of cargo and passenger from road to rail, harnessing hydrogen gas to drive train sets etc. Through these efforts, Indian Railways are on way to achieve net zero carbon emitter. At present, about 7 MW of solar power capacity has been commissioned in the Delhi region. In Delhi, entire existing BG network has been electrified. Further, all new line / multi-tracking projects are being sanctioned and constructed with electrification. ***** Page 5 of 5