Question : Expenditure on Power Consumption in Railways

(a) whether the Railways have paid huge amount towards consumption of power;

(b) if so, the details thereof for the last three years and the steps taken by the Railways to reduce expenses towards the power consumption;

(c) whether the Railways have any proposal to buy electricity from State utilities and Central generation companies through open tenders as well as through inter-state trading and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether this proposal will be effective in reducing the expenditure on power consumption and if so, the extent to which it is likely to affect the power bills; and

(e) whether the Railways have any plan to tie up with the States to get cheaper hydel power from surplus States such as Himachal Pradesh; if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) & (b) Indian Railways (IR) have paid 10,487 crore, 11,489 crore and 12,332 crore (approximately) during 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 (provisional) respectively for power consumption (traction and non-traction). The steps taken to reduce expenditure on power are setting up of captive power plant, deployment of energy efficient locomotives and Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) with regenerative braking, electrification of railway network, adopting energy conservation measures etc.

(c) & (d) IR are exploring possibilities to procure power through the bidding process from eligible entities at the tariff to be discovered through market process. The extent of saving in expenditure due to these efforts are subject to market forces.
(e) Presently, there is no specific proposal of power procurement from Himachal Pradesh. However, power surplus States can participate in the bidding process.
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