Discussions are ongoing between the ministry of power and railways for leveraging the dedicated freight corridors for generating solar power.
It is learnt that the numerous stakeholders involved including the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCL) are in consultation on how to lay solar panels on the proposed freight corridors for harnessing solar energy.
“The railways will benefit by using that solar power on the freight corridor and it will be the first such endeavour in that direction,” a person close to the development told ET Infra.
Emailed query sent to the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCL), regarding the proposal, went unanswered.
This would be the first time railways would be involved in harnessing solar energy, previously solar panels have been set up on national highways.
According to the National Rail Plan, the freight ecosystem is expected to grow from ecosystem is expected to grow from the present level of 4700 MT to 8200 by 2030.
The government plans to commission new Dedicated Freight Corridors and also High Speed Passenger Corridors besides multi-tracking and signal upgradation of congested routes.
In March, this year, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that railways had sanctioned preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for new Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) on three routes and their outcome would be the primary basis for arriving at an investment decision.
The decision was in line with the continuous economic growth and demand for rail transportation in both passenger and freight sectors.
“The Ministry of Railways has sanctioned preparation of DPRs for new DFCs on three routes, including the East Coast Corridor- Kharagpur to Vijayawada (1115 kms),” the minister had said in the Parliament.
The DPRs would ascertain some key data such as alignment, technical feasibility, major streams of freight and growth potential of key sectors along the corridor, financial internal rate of return (FIRR), economic internal rate of return (EIRR) and other relevant details. The three projects are East-Coast Corridor, East-West Sub-Corridor and North-South Corridor.
