Railways saving Rs 3600 crore annually by purchasing power under open access
KI Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh
With the goal of reducing cost of electricity for traction, Indian Railways has commenced flow of additional 50 MW power (Total 100 MW) from Bhartiya Rail Bijli Company Limited (BRBCL) in the State of Bihar w.e.f. 28 November, 2019, which is expected to lead to an annual saving of Rs. 110 Crores per annum on recurring basis. Additional flow of 10 MW power from BRBCL has also been started in the State of Rajasthan w.e.f. 20 November, 2019 which is expected to lead to an annual saving of Rs. 11.50 Crores per annum.
Indian Railways is taking about 1475 MW of power under open access as deemed licensee in 11 states and DVC area. These efforts are resulting into annual saving of over Rs. 3600 Crores per annum and since the commencement of power flow under open access w.e.f. November, 2015 on business as usual mode, it has resulted into a total saving of over Rs. 12400 Crores.
The Bhartiya Rail Bijli Company Limited (BRBCL) is a joint venture company of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Ministry of Railways to produce electricity for traction purpose to Railways at a low cost. It has an equity participation of NTPC & Railways at 74% and 26% respectively. Out of four units (each unit of 250 MW), power flow from three units of this plant has already been started for Indian Railways. First unit started operation in January, 2017. The main beneficiary of this plant is Railways which is getting 90% of the power produced and balance 10% power is given to the state of Bihar.
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