The chairman of the railway board Ashwani Lohani has directed officials to connect all 54 workshops, production units, residential colonies, training institutions and IRCTC base kitchens of the railways with natural gas pipeline by June 30, 2019 so that environment friendly gas can be used.

Lohani has also set the deadline of December 31, 2018 to ensure at least 23 workshops get connected with natural gas in the first phase. 

Through this, the railways are eyeing to save around Rs 20 crore per annum by using natural gas in all of its installations.

A pact was signed between Indian Railways and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) on August 30 to replace industrial gases like dissolved acetylene, LPG, metal cutting gas (BMCG) and furnace oil /high speed diesel (HSD) oil with environment friendly natural gas. GAIL will be providing infrastructure facilities for supply of natural gas to the railway workshops, production units and depots.

A railway colony comprising 1100 quarters in Bhubaneswar has been connected with piped natural gas supply.

An official says the use of natural gas has potential to replace about 8,44,027 cubic meter of Acetylene gas, 2354425 kg of LPG and 1,40,991 kg of BMCG and 5500 kilo litre of HSD/furnace oil worth Rs 70 crore per annum.

Lohani also asked Indian Railways Organisation for Alternate Fuel (IROAF) officials to prepare a report on implementation of natural gas in the railway workshops by September 30, 2018.

Notably, railways’ Matunga and Kota workshops, where a pilot project was commissioned, are already using natural gas. The carriage repair workshop at Matunga is using CNG in place of dissolved acetylene/LPG and is learnt to be saving Rs 20 lakh every year.