The carbon footprint reduction plan will help the national carrier save around ₹1 trillion in energy costs by 2030, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
These projects, to be set up on railways’ land, rooftops of 8,000 railway stations and along rail tracks, will be bid out by Railway Energy Management Co Ltd. (REMCL), a joint venture between the Indian Railways and RITES Ltd, as part of the railways’ plan to procure 20GW of green power by 2030.
Electrification thrust
Green energy will help feed Indian Railways’ track electrification drive, with 69,427 route kilometres electrified, accounting for about 99.2% of its total network, the officials said. Indian Railways has one of the largest land holdings in the country at nearly 5 lakh hectares.
Indian Railways is among the country’s largest electricity consumers, with projected consumption of around 72 billion units by FY30 as against 21 billion units now, making power procurement costs a key lever for financial efficiency.
Most green projects are being executed under the developer mode through long-term power purchase agreements, though the railways has also explored models such as design-build-finance-own-operate (DBFOO) for solar parks. DBFOO is a public-private partnership model, where a private entity is responsible for designing, constructing, financing, owning, and operating a facility, often in perpetuity or for a very long term.
Queries emailed to the Indian Railways, REMCL and the ministries of railways and new and renewable energy remained unanswered until press time.
Bringing land to use
The transporter is looking to leverage its substantial land bank, with 12%—or over 60,000 hectares—of railway land being idle even as several other countries have adapted to tap such resources for their green transition. Poland and Austria have taken to green railways, powered by environment-friendly resources. Japan has been using solar, geothermal, hydro and wind power for its passenger trains and stations since 2022, the Netherlands has been using wind power for passenger trains since 2017, while France uses hydrogen to power its passenger trains.
“Solar energy is a green energy, and it would reduce our requirements of coal and diesel. (It’s) a move to reduce carbon footprints. Railway, with one of the largest land holdings, is uniquely positioned to lead the solar power revolution in the country,” said M.K. Gupta, former member (engineering), Railway Board.
Railways is also expanding decentralized solar installations. Nearly 2,700 railway stations currently procure solar power, with an installed solar capacity of 890MW. According to the officials quoted earlier, the number of stations sourcing solar energy is likely to be doubled to 5,000 in FY27.
India has an ambitious energy transition and net zero carbon emission roadmap for 2070, a goal announced at COP-26 to balance economic growth with environmental sustainability. The Indian Railways, with an installed capacity of 890MW, has sourced 1.5GW green power in FY26, taking the total power purchase agreements to 2GW, with an average tariff of ₹4.5 per unit.
The new 3 GW round will be largely for round-the-clock supply through hybrid solar-wind projects backed by storage and firming arrangements, and is aimed at replacing costlier thermal power procurement.
Eyeing savings on energy
The latest tender for round-the-clock renewable energy closed on 24 November 2025, with a total capacity of 1GW power and a stringent availability requirement of over 75% for the first three years and over 85% for the remaining term of the contract.
The price discovered in the tender was ₹4.35 per unit for 25 years, lower than the average tariff of ₹6 per unit under the thermal power purchase agreements signed in the past two years by state distribution companies, including those in Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra.
Officials say that switching 3 GW of traction power requirement to renewable round-the-clock supply could yield savings of nearly ₹1 trillion over the contract life, compared with sourcing equivalent power from conventional thermal plants.
“The emerging cost picture is clearer now. At a discovered levelized tariff of ₹4.35 per unit for RE RTC, Indian Railways can secure long-tenor, inflation-insulated power that is structurally cheaper than a 1,000 MW thermal supply exposed to coal price volatility, transport costs, and environmental compliance,” said one of the two government officials cited above. “Over a 25-year period, this translates into over ₹32,000 crore cost savings when compared with a conventional energy portfolio, in addition to avoided future carbon costs and reduced exposure to fuel supply disruptions.” At this rate, the savings for the upcoming 3 GW of green projects would be about ₹1 trillion, the official added.
Savings would accrue from lower levelized tariffs discovered in recent renewable bids, avoidance of fuel cost volatility, and reduced cross-subsidy surcharges as The railways increasingly procures power directly under long-term agreements. This comes in the backdrop of power purchase agreements for conventional solar and wind power available in the range of ₹2.5-4.0 per unit. Dispatchable renewable energy, a combination of solar, wind and battery storage, is available at an average tariff of ₹5 per unit. The recent tariffs for power from solar-cum-storage projects is in the range of ₹2.9-3.6 per unit.
India currently has a renewable energy capacity of 258GW, of which solar accounts for 135.80 GW, and wind for 54.51 GW.
The green push complements India’s rapid electrification of the rail network. As of November 2025, about 69,427 route kilometres—roughly 99% of the broad gauge network—had been electrified, sharply reducing diesel consumption and scope-1 emissions. This would help India’s cumulative target of 500 GW non-fossil power generation capacity by 2030.
According to the railway ministry’s submissions made in Lok Sabha in 2023, for India to achieve its net zero goal, about 30GW of renewable capacity would be needed by FY30, including anticipated traction power demand of 10GW.
Hurdles in the green sprint
With the government aiming to auction 50GW renewable power annually, the pace of capacity addition has picked up. However, India’s green energy space is currently going through a tough spot in some states with issues such as curtailment of green power generation in Rajasthan and Gujarat, two of its largest renewable power generating states, discoms selling renewable energy on electricity exchanges at a price lower than the purchase rate, and several states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and West Bengal signing costly coal-fuelled power purchase agreements rather than cheaper green power.
In addition, 43GW green power capacity projects, involving a proposed investment of ₹2.1 trillion, do not have power purchase agreements and power supply agreements in place.
Analysts say large, creditworthy offtakers such as the Indian Railways could help absorb surplus renewable power and provide stable demand visibility to developers.
“Whereas the targets appear like a good step, they may be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. 1 MW of solar peak power (MWp) requires 5 acres of land or rooftops. For 20,000 MWp, that translates into 1 lakh acres. It may not be possible to count small parcels of land and rooftops and add up to that vast area, solar power farms are best located on contiguous areas of land, of say, 10-20 acres each. Scattering it over smaller plots increases the cost of cabling and electronics, apart from complicating maintenance and security,” said Shubhranshu, former chief of Rail Wheel Plant, Bela. “I believe the remaining 1,000 MW will be wind energy. An average windmill has a peak power output of 2-3MW; 1,000 MW will require 300-500 windmills. Is the railways ready for it?”
There are other logistical issues that will need to be managed. A successful integration of intermittent renewable power at scale will require robust scheduling, storage and transmission planning to ensure reliable traction supply.
With nearly full electrification achieved at the Indian Railways, the focus is now shifting to securing clean, firm and cost-effective electricity to power one of the world’s largest rail networks.