Ministry of Railways
The Union Minister of Railway, Suresh Prabhu has recently launched “Mission 41K” to save Rs. 41,000 crore on the Indian Railways’ expenditure on energy consumption over the next 10 years. This target will be achieved by taking a slew of measures which include moving 90% of traffic to electric traction over diesel. Presently, this is at 50% of the total rail traffic. The launch of this programme was undertaken at a Roundtable Discussion on Energy Initiatives of Indian Railways with external stakeholders. The railways also aim to procure more and more electricity at cheaper rates through open market instead of sourcing it through DISCOMs and thereby hope to save as much as 25% on its energy expenses.