Railways to speed up electrification pace via EPC route

Taking EPC route will help railways reduce electrification costs, which is currently in the range of Rs 1-2 crore per kilometre

In an effort to achieve almost 100 per cent electrification, Indian railways is set to come out with large tenders through the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model to achieve higher targets.

As part of this, railways has already come out with a model EPC Agreement, model RFQ (request for qualification) and model RFP (request for proposal) for public feedback till 16 November. As per the roadmap by minister Piyush Goyal, railways is targeting 100 per cent electrification by 2021, compared to 45 per cent now.  

“We are looking forward to increase the pace of Electrification to about 30 kilometers per day. Electrification is a powerful measure to achieve cost-effectiveness. It improves mobility by use of high power energy efficient Locomotives, facilitates shift of traffic from road to rail and also to reduce carbon footprints,” said an official close to the development.

Railways is also targeting a reduction in traction energy bill by about 40 per cent from the present Rs 26,500 crore to Rs 16,000 crore, which is likely to improve its operating ratio. IR has already reduced the electric traction bill of Rs 10,600 crore in 2014-15 by about Rs 1,200 crore over the last two years by procuring power under open access and the same is likely to reduce further, giving railway an annual saving of about Rs 3,000 crore by the end of this financial year. An investment of at least Rs 35,000 crore is likely to go into electrification in the next five years.

According to reports, taking EPC route will help railways reduce electrification costs, which is currently in the range of Rs 1-2 crore per kilo meter. The idea is to cover between 400- 1500 km under EPC contracts.