Prabhu asks Indian Railways to save Rs 5,000 crore by 2019 on energy bill

New Delhi: Rail minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday said he has asked the railway board to ensure savings of at least Rs 5,000 crore by 2019 on railways' energy bill of Rs 33,000 crore.

"Our target, for which I keep pressing my board colleagues, is to try and save nothing less than Rs 5,000 crore in five years," Prabhu told an audience comprising global rail sector companies and experts at the International Summit on Energy Efficient Technologies in Railways.

He added the target could be achieved by sourcing more power through competitive bidding route and setting up Indian Railways owned Nabinagar power plant. The Railways spent Rs 20,000 crore on diesel and an additional Rs 13,000 crore on electricity last fiscal. At least 30% of the Railways total expenditure goes towards meeting its energy needs.

Prabhu also called for bringing down energy demand and looking for "innovative financing models for funding energy efficiency initiatives". He said the ministry is working on comprehensive energy efficiency plan that will radically transform Indian Railways' energy landscape.

Prabhu said the ministry is conducting energy audits of all the railway units and zones to set up baselines (benchmarks) for performance that will be compared with global energy efficiency standards.

Speaking on the same occasion, railway board Chairman A K Mital said Indian Railways is trying to reduce energy use, which accounts for 30%. He said the railways has managed to maintain its non-traction power use at the same level over past five years despite huge increase in traffic.

Railway Board's Member-Electrical Naveen Tandon said in his speech railways' specific energy consumption has come down by 17 per cent in past five years allowing cumulative savings of around Rs 6,000 crore.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.