Budget 2020 proposes setting up solar power capacity alongside rail tracks
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday proposed to set up large solar power capacity alongside rail tracks, on land owned by Railways.
The previously articulated plan will also help the national carrier reduce its power procurement costs. With a requirement of about 12 billion units of electricity a year, Indian Railways’ power consumption has been growing at an average 5% a year. The railways plan to source 10% of its electricity needs through renewable energy sources by 2020.
The national carrier has a rail network of around 125,000 km, the world’s largest, under a single management. It also has large tracts of land along its network, which will be used to set up solar power generation capacities.
