The Indian Railways' ambitious electrification plan involving its entire broad gauge network faces further delay due to complexities in last-mile connections in the North East and the South.
The 100% electrification plan is now likely to be completed only by the end of the current fiscal or early next year as last-mile projects are progressing slowly this year, two officials aware of the development said.
The Railways' latest plan was to complete full electrification in the first 100 days of the new government. This would have meant completion of all work by September.
The challenges are mainly coming in executing electrification in the North East, particularly Assam and Tripura where just over 50% of the broad gauge lines have been electrified till August end, and work on 1,280 km of the route is yet to be completed, one of the two persons quoted earlier said.
In addition, 892 route km (RKM) of the network in six states—Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, Goa and Rajasthan—is also facing delays in completing the electrification work.
Just about 688 km of network has been electrified in the five months of the current fiscal after the Railways added just over 4,000 RKM in FY24, and at this pace completion will be delayed further, said the other person.
The electrification of broad gauge lines of the Railways covered a lot of ground in the past few years and reached 96.68% by August-end at around 64,144 RKM and some 2,199 RKM is left.
Railways had intended to complete full electrification of its broad gauge lines by December 2023. This deadline later shifted to the end of fiscal year 2023-24. It has now been further extended as work on about 2,199 RKM of railway network is still going on as of 1 September 2024 and going by previous data, it may take a few months to complete this last stretch.
Like the previous year, Railway set a target completing record 6,500 route km of electrification in FY24. But as per Railway Ministry’s own report, only about 4,644 route km of network got electrified last fiscal.
Route kilometre (RKM) is defined as the distance between two points on the railways, regardless of the number of lines connecting them: be it a single line, double line, or any other configuration.
Out of 32 states and Union territories (for which estimates were available with the Railways), electrification reached 100% in 20, it is above 90% in 5, above 80% in one, as per the railway ministry. In 2 states and union territories, electrification work is either yet to start or has reached just about over 50% level ( in Assam and Tripura). Electrification has not started as of 1 September, in North Eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram, and Manipur. Electrification also needs to be completed in Goa, Karnataka,Tamil Nadu, Gujarat Rajasthan, and West Bengal.
The government provided ₹6,500 crore for electrification work in the budget for FY25 which also includes unused funds from the previous year, one of the persons quoted above said.
A query sent to the railway ministry remained unanswered till press time.
The electrification drive is expected to reduce the Railways' ₹15,000-crore annual fuel bill. It will also contribute to India’s target of achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2070. Additionally, Indian Railways has envisioned achieving net zero carbon emission by 2030, and aims to become the largest green railway system globally.
Between 1948 and 2014, about 22,000 RKM were electrified cumulatively. The pace picked up from there, but real acceleration came in FY18 when for the first time over 4,000 RKM were electrified. The pace increased with between 4,000 RKM and 6,000 RKM being electrified consistently for four years till FY22. Thereafter, it rose to over 6,500 RKM in FY23 and the target was again set for 6,500 km in FY24. But this target was missed as only about 4,644 RKM were added in FY24.
At 96.68% electrification, Indian Railway is far ahead of its global peers with electrification reaching just about 56% in the EU, 38% in the UK and just 1% in US. Switzerland, however, is 99% electrified.
Also, the pace of electrifying RKM is the fastest seen in India, at over 16 RKM per day now. This is a big rise from just about 1.2 RKM per day being added between 2004 and 2009 and 1.7 RKM between 2009 and 2014.
