Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Nov 18, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Nov 18, 2003 |
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Railways Railways proposes electrification of Lucknow-Moradabad section Gaurav Raghuvanshi
New Delhi , Nov. 17 THE Railway Board is considering a proposal to electrify the Lucknow-Moradabad section of the Northern Railways in Uttar Pradesh. With the Saharanpur-Moradabad section already approved for conversion to electric traction, the upgradation would improve the traffic throughput on the route. "Northern Railway's General Manager has approached us with a proposal to convert Lucknow-Moradabad section to electric traction. If approved, the project could be included in the Budget for 2004-05," a senior Railway Board official told Business Line. The route has a very high traffic density and caters to the traffic between North and East India. While most of the route is already covered by electric traction, there are small gaps, which the Railways is now seeking to fill in. The Planning Commission had recommended that the electrification of the entire stretch from Saharanpur to Mughalsarai be examined in one go. While Ambala to Saharanpur is already electrified and construction is due to begin soon on the Saharanpur-Moradabad section, the Railways are seeking to upgrade the entire route. According to the proposal, the electrification of the nearly 300-kilometre route would cost about Rs 1,500 crore. The projected return on investment (RoI) for the project has been pegged at 14 per cent, which makes it viable as per the Planning Commission norms. "The projected RoI is 14 per cent, which means that we will not have to seek special permission on social and economic grounds for the project. With the Railways looking at alternative sources of power and the cost of fossil fuels rising, the final RoI on the project may work out to be higher," the official said. The Railways have already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to set up a separate entity to establish dedicated power plants to meet their power requirement. The power from the Railways' own plant is expected to be at least 50 per cent cheaper than that supplied by the State electricity boards.
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