Railways' diesel consumption reduced by 50.29% in FY21 compared to FY20

The Railways has reduced its diesel consumption by more than 50 per cent in 2020-21 in comparison to its previous financial year, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.

In his reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw said in 2018-2019, the Railways' diesel consumption was 26,41,142 kilo litres, which reduced by 10.44 per cent in 2019-2020, which further reduced by 50.29 per cent to 11,75,901 kilo litres in 2020-21.

He further said in 2018-2019, the fuel bill was Rs 18,587.14 crore while in 2019-2020, the bill was Rs 16,377.60 crore.

This reduced to Rs 11,438.70 in 2020-2021, the minister said.

Vaishnaw said the completion of electrification projects depends on various factors like clearances from concerned departments of state governments or central ministries, completion of transmission lines by state power utilities and resolution of law and order issues during execution, which are beyond the control of the Railways ministry.

"Therefore, it is not feasible to fix time lines for completion of projects," he said.