The 100% electrification plan is likely to be completed only by the end of the current fiscal year or early next as last-mile projects are moving slowly this year, said two officials with knowledge of the development.
The railways’ latest plan was to complete full electrification within the first 100 days of the new government, which would have meant completion of all works by September.
Difficult sections
The challenges stem mainly from the execution of electrification in the northeast, particularly Assam and Tripura, where just over 50% of broad gauge lines have been electrified till the end of August, and work on 1,280 km of the route is yet to be completed, said one of the two people cited above.
Additionally, 892 route kilometres (RKM) of the network in six states (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, Goa and Rajasthan) are also facing delays in completion of electrification work.
About 688 km of network has been electrified in the five months of the current fiscal year after the railways added a little over 4,000 RKM in FY24, and at this rate the completion will be delayed further, the other person said.
The electrification of broad gauge railway lines has come a long way in recent years and at the end of August it reached 96.68% with around 64,144 RKM and about 2,199 RKM remain.
The railways had planned to complete the full electrification of its broad gauge lines by December 2023. This deadline was later pushed to the end of the 2023-24 financial year. It has now been further extended as work on around 2,199 RKM of railway network is still underway as on 1 September 2024 and as per the earlier data, it may take a few months to complete this last stretch.
Laggards in fiscal year 2024
Like the previous year, the railways had set a target of completing a record 6,500 kilometres of electrified routes in fiscal 2024. However, according to the Railway Ministry’s own report, only around 4,644 kilometres of routes on the network were electrified in the last fiscal year.
The route kilometre (RKM) is defined as the distance between two points on the railway tracks, regardless of the number of lines connecting them: whether it is a single line, a double line or any other configuration.
Of the 32 states and Union Territories (for which Railways estimates were available), electrification has reached 100% in 20, is above 90% in 5, above 80% in one, according to the Railway Ministry. In 2 states and Union Territories, electrification work is yet to start or has reached a level of almost over 50% (in Assam and Tripura). Electrification has not started as on September 1 in northeastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram and Manipur. Electrification also needs to be completed in Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Rajasthanand West Bengal.
The government provided ₹Rs 6,500 crore for electrification work is in the budget for FY25, which also includes unspent funds from the previous year, said one of the people cited above.
A query sent to the Ministry of Railways remained unanswered by the time this edition went to press.
Fuel saving
The electrification drive is expected to reduce railway costs. ₹The annual fuel bill will be Rs 15,000 crore. It will also contribute to India’s goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2070. Moreover, Indian Railways has set itself the goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 and aims to become the world’s largest green railway system.
Between 1948 and 2014, about 22,000 RKMs in total were electrified. The pace picked up from there, but the real acceleration came in FY2018 when over 4,000 RKMs were electrified for the first time. The pace picked up with 4,000 to 6,000 RKMs being electrified steadily for four years until FY2022. Thereafter, it increased to over 6,500 RKMs in FY2023 and the target was again set at 6,500 km in FY2024. But this target was not achieved as only about 4,644 RKMs were added in FY2024.
With 96.68% electrification, Indian Railway is far ahead of its global peers – electrification reaches only 56% in the EU, 38% in the UK and just 1% in the US. However, Switzerland is 99% electrified.
Moreover, the pace of RKM electrification is the fastest ever seen in India, with over 16 RKMs added per day at present. This is a huge increase from the 1.2 RKMs per day added between 2004 and 2009 and the 1.7 RKMs added between 2009 and 2014.
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