Railways ministry inks MoU with CII to foster green initiatives

In a move aimed at facilitation of green initiatives, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Railways and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) here on Friday.

The Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi, Director General of CII Chandrajit Banerjee, Member - Rolling Stock Rajesh Agarwal and other railway board officials were present at the event.

"Cleanliness (Swachhta) has become a movement. Taking inspiration from the Prime Minister, mass participation is being witnessed on this front across the whole country. We at railways are also making concerted efforts to ensure cleanliness and hygiene in trains and on the station premises," Angadi said.

Expressing his delight on 50 railway units, 12 railway stations and 16 more buildings receiving green certification, the minister anticipated that more production units and workshops would be touching the same mark in the future.

Energy efficiency in manufacturing facilities, greening of the railway properties, demonstrative pilots of net-zero energy buildings, development of green procurement policy, waste management policy, solid waste disposal, carbon neutrality and phytoremediation stood among the major objectives of the MoU.

Directed towards wide circulation, three coffee table publications - one each on energy efficiency, GreenCo rating and green buildings (including railway stations) were released, as conceptualised under the MoU.

Indian railways and CII have been working together since 2016 on green rating and energy efficiency studies.

GreenCo rating system, developed by CII, evaluates the rate of performance of industrial units who pursue environmentally sustainable practices and also certifies them as a green building.