Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said the Indian Railways is aiming to reduce the carbon emissions to zero by 2030.

Speaking at the third India Energy Forum CERAWeek 2019, along with the leaders of renewable sector firms, Goyal said India by 2030 will be a net-zero railway. Nearly 8 billion passengers and 1.2 billion tonnes of freight are transported every year.

‘Ours will be the world’s first railways of this scale to go green,’ Goyal tweeted.

By 2030 we will be a net-zero railway, our carbon emission will be zero. Indian Railways transports nearly 8 billion passengers and 1.2 billion tonnes of freight every year.Ours will be the world’s first Railways of this scale to go green. pic.twitter.com/x08SmseRrP

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) August 26, 2020

Goyal said the government is phasing out the old coal plants, which will help bring down environmental pollution, and will also create the demand for new plants and spur the investment cycle.

India has the fourth-largest rail network in the world after the US, Russia and China, with 67,368 km of tracks and with some 7,300 stations.

Government’s think tank NITI Aayog states that carbon emission from the Indian Railways was 6.84 million tonnes in 2014. The Railway department aims to have a 100 per cent electrified train network by December 2023, the first railway of this scale in the world to be diesel-free, Goyal said.

For the same, the land along the tracks will be used by the Centre for generating 20 gigawatts of clean energy using solar power equipment manufactured in India, he added. The project aims to bring new technologies, boost revenues, and also increase job opportunities in the country.

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