Bhubaneswar, Aug 8 : In line with the Indian Railways' push to become a Green Transporter by reducing its carbon footprint, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) has planned to install 21,826 KWP (kilowatt peak) capacity solar plants resulting in savings of approximately Rs 14 crore from energy bill and Rs 91.41 lakh from carbon credit.

"Under this project, East Coast Railway will install solar power plants at 149 station buildings, 248 service buildings, 6,924 residential buildings, and at 366 level crossing gates over its jurisdiction," said ECoR sources on Wednesday.

Tenders have been floated by the Railways for Rs 83.79 crore, which includes solar power plants or renewable solar energy sources on grid plants of different capacities on rooftops and shed tops in various Railway sections across the state.

The locations where ECoR has decided to install solar plants include Brahmapur-Palasa Railway Section and Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Paradeep-Bhadrak Railway section, Angul section, Headquarters area in Bhubaneswar, Khurda Road-Puri Section, Paradeep-Kendujhargarh Railway Section, Visakhapatnam area, Visakhapatnam Electric Loco Shed area, Kottavalasa-Kirandul Rail Line Section, etc.

"Major station buildings and service buildings like headquarters building, Rail Sadan at Chandrasekharpur, 6,790 KWP have also been provided with Rooftop Solar Power Plants and Renewable Energy sources. Level Crossing Gates at most of the places in ECoR jurisdiction have also been installed with Solar and Renewable Energy Systems," added ECoR sources.

ECoR sources further asserted that the railways is adopting various steps to generate more green energy by installing rooftop solar power plants in station and service buildings and other installations over its jurisdiction across the country.

"East Coast Railway is committed to maximising the use of solar energy for meeting its energy requirements. This will help in meeting the day-to-day power needs of stations and other service buildings. Apart from being environmentally friendly, this leads to savings in precious expenditure for the railways," ECoR sources said.

/IANS