Central Railway is expected to save Rs 2,500 crore in electricity bill in five years after a new Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited (RGPPL), a senior CR official said here today.
"Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines Piyush Goyal have embarked on Mission 41K, which will lead to saving of Rs 41,000 crore in electricity bill for Indian Railways by 2025," the official said.
"Over the years, rate of electricity for traction has increased considerably putting lot of burden on Railway finances. Railways thereby started exploring feasibility of purchasing electricity from open market," CR Chief PRO Narendra Patil said.
"Ministry of Power has also given deemed distribution licensee status to Indian Railways and Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has also endorsed this decision which has paved the way for availing electricity by Railways through Open Access mechanism," Patil said.
The PPA was signed in November 2015 for 50 traction sub-stations located in Maharashtra, he said. That agreement expired last month. Till then, savings of around Rs 800 crore was achieved for 50 traction sub-stations situated in Maharashtra, he added.
"Central Railway has now signed another PPA with RGPPL for five years, with effect from April 1 this year, Patil said. Accordingly, traction power will be supplied at the rate of Rs 5.50 per unit as against the present power tariff of Rs 9.00 per unit of State Electricity Company.
"Thus, Central Railway will achieve the savings of around Rs 2,500 crore over the next 5 years," added Patil.
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