L&T gets Rs 1050-cr contract for rail tracks electrification

This is the first EPC contract of the Indian Railways under its Mission Electrification

The Indian Railways today awarded a Rs 1,050-crore contract for electrification of 781-km rail tracks to multinational conglomerate Larsen & Toubro Limited.

This is the first engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract of the Indian Railways under its Mission Electrification.

"The Indian Railways has given higher thrust on infrastructure creation, electrification. During last four years, total 103 railway electrification projects consisting of 16,815 route kilometres at an estimated cost of Rs 17,615 crore have been sanctioned," Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said at an event to exchange the contract of agreement.

The contract to L&T has been awarded for electrification in two sections — the Delhi-Sarai Rohilla-Rewari and Alwar- Bandikui-Jaipur-Phulera-Ajmer section (353-route-km at a cost of Rs 594 crore) and the Roha-Verna section of Konkan Railway (428-route-km at a cost of Rs 456 crore).

This is for the first time that the railways has entrusted new electrification works not only to its PSUs including Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON) and Rail India Techno Economic Service (RITES) but also to Power Grid Corporation India Limited (PGCIL), a transmission sector PSU under the Ministry of Power.

At the event, additionally eight agreements were exchanged between railway zones and Public Sector Undertakings for 1,735 rkm of electrification projects at a cost of Rs 1,746 crore.

"The cumulative saving due to electric traction bill will be about Rs 26,000 crore in a decade which will be in addition to saving of Rs 41,000 crore planned to be achieved due to reduction in cost of power to the railways. The Mission Electrification will also make the Indian Railways more environment-friendly," Prabhu said.