Recently, CII and Indian Railways entered into the next phase of partnership for facilitating green initiatives in Indian Railways, by inking an MoU. The MoU was exchanged in the presence of Suresh C. Angadi, Hon'ble Minister of State for Railways, by Shivendra Mohan, Executive Director, EnHM / ME, Rly. Board and S Raghupathy, Dy. Director General & COO, CII.
Speaking at the special occasion, Angadi said that, Indian Railways has always been in the forefront in fostering and promoting eco-friendly practices and approaches. Railways have been adopting a blend of energy and environmental approaches, coupled with appropriate technological interventions in addressing ecological issues, added the Hon'ble Minister. ICF, Chennai and MCF, Raebareli have already become energy neutral and Indian Railways as a whole, very soon aspires to become fully energy neutral, underlined the Hon'ble Minister. Indian Railways is glad to partner with CII in taking forward its green mission, said the Hon'ble Minister.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII said that, many path-breaking initiatives have already been taken by Indian Railways for going the green and energy efficient way. Indian Railways have carved a niche of its own in demonstrating to the global community that PSUs can set new global benchmarks in resource conservation, energy and environmental management. They are truly a paradigm for others to emulate, added Banerjee. CII looks forward to work more closely with Indian Railways in its pursuits and endeavors, said, Banerjee.
Rajesh Agrawal, Member, Rolling Stock (MRS) said that Indian Railways, through its concerted efforts is making a significant impact in saving the planet earth. He said that all the establishments of Indian Railways will be going green and aspires for achieving the highest level of rating. Rajesh Agrawal laid emphasis on converting railway schools into green schools.
Earlier, CII signed a MoU with Indian Railways in July 2016. As a result of concerted efforts, significant progress has been made in facilitating greening of railway stations, buildings, workshops/ production units and energy management facilitation in workshops. All these efforts and initiatives have led to savings of Rs 97 crore per annum, apart from gaining other tangible and intangible benefits.
Encouraged by the excellent response and impact results, Indian Railways and CII have agreed to take forward the environmental sustainability initiatives in Indian Railways to the next level, by signing the MoU today. Through this MoU, CII will continue to partner with Indian Railways on net-zero buildings, greening of built environment, GreenCo rating, greening of railway stations, energy efficiency, technologies, capacity building and other related areas.
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