GAIL and Indian Railways have signed an Memorandum of Understanding to use natural gas in its workshops and production units. The move will pave the way for supply of natural gas to railway workshops, integral coach factories, loco workshops, DEMU sheds and the like along the existing and upcoming pipeline networks of GAIL.
This will also be applicable to the prestigious eastern India pipeline project under execution.
The aim is to replace industrial gases like dissolved acetylene, LPG and furnace oil/high-speed diesel (HSD) with environment-friendly natural gas.
In the first phase, as many as 23 workshops will use natural gas by December 31. It will be expanded to all 54 workshops and production units, and railway establishments — including base kitchens, guest houses and hostels — by June 30 next year.
The use of natural gas has a potential to replace fuel worth Rs 70 crore per annum. GAIL and the Indian Railways Organization for Alternate Fuel (IROAF) would prepare a project report by September 30. A pilot project at Matunga and Kota of Rajasthan has been commissioned, which can result in annual savings of Rs 20 lakh and Rs 21 lakh, respectively.
Its use at the Rail Wheel Factory of Bengaluru has led to a saving of 410 kilolitres of HSD per month, saving around Rs 8-10 crore and reducing CO2 emissions by nearly 28 per cent, as told by Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani.
Reference- ET, PTI, The Hindu