Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that around 7,000 railway stations would be fed through solar power in the medium term and work has already begun in that respect in 300 stations.
“It is proposed to feed at least 7,000 stations with solar power in the medium term. A beginning has already been made in 300 stations,” Jaitley said in his Budget 2017 speech in Parliament today.
He also said work will be taken up for 2000 stations as part of the government’s 1000 Megawatt solar mission.
Earlier, Indian Railways had said it has finalised a policy for harnessing solar energy on rooftops of railway premises. The policy provided for setting up solar power plants through developer mode with a long term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) by railways.
In order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, the government had said it intended to expand sourcing of solar power as part of the Solar Mission of Indian Railways.
The government had said by generating electricity from solar panels, there will be proportionate reduction in consumption of fossil fuels.
By Baishakhi Dutta
