New Delhi: Indian Railways plans to achieve net-zero carbon emission by 2030, said RN Singh, Principal Executive Director (Infra) and Secretary, Railway Board, Ministry of Railways while addressing the ‘4th Smart Railway Conclave’ organised by FICCI on Friday.

“Indian Railways plans to electrify its entire broad-gauge network by December 2023 to achieve the goal of 'net-zero' carbon emission by 2030. It is expected that reliance on fossil fuel-based power for Indian Railways will be significantly reduced by 2030,” he said.

He said Indian Railways is currently focusing on railways share of freight and passenger transport on economic as well as environmental considerations. “We have formulated an ambitious investment program that primarily focuses upon the network capacity enhancement and advancement of core assets including tracks, network, station redevelopment, signalling upgradation and locomotive upgradation, '' he said.

“Indian Railways has recently launched the National Rail plan where the primary objective is to develop capacity ahead of demand and enhance the rail freight share from 27 per cent to 45 per cent by 2030 through massive capital investment,” added Singh. He further shared that Indian Railways is a major participant in Gati Shakti launched by the government which is likely to become the game changer for infrastructure and logistics scenario.

BVN Rao, Chair, FICCI Transport Infrastructure Committee, said: “Year 2021 has been a ‘Year of Major Transformation and Achievements’ for Indian Railways. It has witnessed an extraordinary growth in development of infrastructure, freight loading and diversification, enhanced safety, capacity expansion of network, freight train speed.”

Sandeep Selot, Co-Chair, FICCI Transport Infrastructure Committee, said, “Gati Shakti will contribute to the enhancement of multimodal logistics through the length and breadth of the country and will be a critical factor in the overall increasing share of railways in the transportation sector.” /BI/