Mumbai : Indian Railways has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a joint venture with Power Grid Corporation of India, to draw power directly from the national grid. But, there is no clarity yet on whether the railways want to go for equity participation or BOO (build-own-operate) route, considering that the cost of the project would be around Rs 9000-10,000 cr. Railways has received a detailed report from Power Grid on how they can have their own transmission system across the country. Recently, a test was conducted between Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors and a report on feasibility was handed over. According to a senior official, a separate network for railways throughout India will mean railways will need 132kV lines.
The project will help the railways save on purchase cost of electricity while reliable and quality power supply. Currently, railway is getting power from state discoms and sometimes, face disruptions. Power Grid which has managed to keep the capex at Rs 22, 600 and reported a growth of 33% profit in June quarter of 2016, is more than happy to put in money as part of equity, said the official quoted earlier.
