Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Ministry of Railways and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Green Industrial Units

In the august presence of Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ministry of Railways and Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) to evaluate the Green Initiatives and rate the performance of Industrial Units of Indian Railways which are pursuing environmentally sustainable practices, was signed and Final Report on the Passenger Feedback Survey at major Railway Stations for Cleanliness Ranking was E-Released on 26 July 2016. Minister of State for Railways & Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communication Shri Manoj Sinha and Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain was present to grace the occasion. On the event of Signing Ceremony, Chairman Railway Board Shri A. K. Mital, Member Mechanical Shri Hemant Kumar, and other Board Members and Senior Officials were present. On behalf of the Railway Ministry Smt. Kalyani Chadda, EDME(W) signed the MoU whereas on behalf of CII Shri S. Raghupathy, Dy. Director General, CII signed the MoU. The MoU was signed in the backdrop of Railway Minister's Budget announcement.

Shri Suresh Prabhu pointed out that notwithstanding the fact that Railways is an environment friendly transport, multi pronged green initiatives are being taken by Indian Railways. This includes the share of renewables in energy consumed, better Water Management including Water Audit, Solid Waste Management including Waste to Energy plants etc. The association with CII will enable Railways to weigh their green initiatives against the global standards. The partnership with CII has come in the right time when Railways are in the change mode for a sustainable growth. Indian Railways have been playing a key role in every aspect of Government's initiatives. The provision of bio toilets in a large scale to avoid open discharge from the coaches is a major step towards this. Recently, the Manmadurai - Rameshwaram section of Southern Railway was declared as a first green railway section. Indian Railways have so far provided more than 40,000 bio toilets. During this year, another 30,000 bio toilets are proposed to be added. The unique effort of bio vacuum toilets by Indian Railways will be a big game changer in this regard if the trials prove successful.

Shri Manoj Sinha said that Railways which has its production units in almost all parts of the country should ensure some environment friendly measures like solar energy, energy audit, water harvesting. He said that keeping in mind all these measures, today's MoU has been signed so that environment friendly measures could be taken.

Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain said that Railways being the biggest industry of the country is conscious towards the environment friendly measures and these measures could bring drastic change after implementation.

The MOU has been signed for GBC-CII to extend technical co-operation for various Green initiatives in 3 Railway's Industrial establishments, with an objective to make Indian Railways, as a leading Government organisation in the field of Environment. Initially following two programmes will be taken up under this MOU:

(i) Green Rating for Railway Industrial units - In the first phase - Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW)/Varanasi Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai and Carriage & Wagon Workshop, Perambur /Chennai, Southern Railway, have been selected for this important initiative. All the Green initiatives of these units will be rated on a common Platform applicable to all the industries. Based on the experience remaining Units will be taken up under this scheme.

(ii) Energy Efficiency studies at 6 Production Units and 4 major workshops over Indian Railways. This will include Capacity Building, Knowledge sharing and exchange of best practices on Energy efficiency between Railways and other industrial sectors.

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