NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways has saved Rs 6,000 crore by shifting from diesel to electric energy to run trains, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Responding to a debate on demands for grants of the Railway Ministry, he said that the national transporter has become the second largest cargo carrier in the world.
Vaishnaw said that during the cumulative tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, 35,000 kms of new railway tracks have been laid while 27,000 kms have been electrified.
The railways minister said while staff cost is the biggest expenditure of the Indian Railways, energy is the second biggest expenditure.
He noted that in coming times diesel locomotives will fade away making way for electric locomotives.
The minister and Opposition members locked horns after Vaishnaw criticised the opposition states Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal for not allocating grants for development related schemes, especially the ones related to land acquisition for railway projects.
Vaishnaw said since the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, politics of performance has taken over from politics of vote.
He said that in a visionary decision, PM Modi had decided to merge the railway budget with the general budget, which has led to an increase in financial allocation for his ministry.
Now, new trains are inaugurated and new projects are launched throughout the year, which was not the case earlier, he said. Railways’ financial health has increased and so has transparency in publishing accounts, he added.
Vaishnaw noted that the Finance Ministry and other agencies keep a tab on monetary health of the Indian Railways using elaborate IT systems.
As many as 210 MPs participated in the debate, which lasted two days. At the end of the debate, the House approved the demands for grants for the Railways Ministry for 2026-27.
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