Indian Railways is working towards a Zero Carbon Emissions mission. As part of this initiative, solar plants will be installed at 99 stations and 46 service buildings in the Dhanbad Railway Division, including Daltonganj, during the financial year 2024-25. A total of 2482 kilowatts of solar plants will be installed on 99 station buildings, and 1530 kilowatts on 46 service buildings. An estimate of ₹21 crore 85 lakh 50 thousand 971 has been prepared for installing these solar plants, and a tender was recently issued for the same.
Once the tender is finalized, the installation of the solar plants will commence. Currently, the Dhanbad Railway Division has a total of 170 stations and halts. Among them, seven stations, including Dhanbad, Gajhandi, Hazaribagh Town, Barkakana, Parasnath, Garhwa Road, and Nagar Untari, already have solar plants. The electricity generated from these plants is used for the buildings, resulting in reduced electricity purchase costs and saving revenue. In the financial year 2023-24, 5.60 lakh kilowatts of electricity was generated from these stations, saving ₹22.54 lakh in electricity costs for the railway.
The solar plants will be installed at the following railway stations: Gomoh, Chichanki, Parasnath, Phusro, Gomia, Gurpa, Gajhandi, Piparadih, Patratu, Daltonganj, Chopan, Hazaribagh Road, Barkakana, Barwadih, Singrauli, among others.
Solar panels will be installed in these station buildings based on their electricity requirements. Additionally, 46 service buildings, including RRI, parcel, RPF, and others, have been selected for solar panel installation.
Upon completion of this project, there will be significant savings in electrical energy and revenue. Currently, these railway stations, their service buildings, and colonies rely on DVC and JBVNL for power supply. The production of solar power will greatly reduce the railway’s dependence on these institutions.
