Rail Electrification Now Set for FY26 End

06 May 2025 CW Team

Indian Railways' ambitious broad-gauge electrification drive has hit delays, pushing the revised completion target to the end of FY26. Initially aimed for September 2024, the project now faces bottlenecks in last-mile connections—especially in Assam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and parts of Rajasthan and Goa. As of March 2025, 68,701 km, or 98.83 per cent of the 69,512 km network, has been electrified, according to the Ministry of Railways.

Progress has been hampered by geographic and infrastructure constraints, particularly in the northeast. Although Tripura is fully electrified, 382 km remain unfinished in Assam. Other remaining segments include 93 km in Rajasthan, 151 km in Karnataka, 169 km in Tamil Nadu, and 16 km in Goa.

Electrification progress slowed in FY25, with only 2,701 km completed—well below the 6,000 km-plus annual average since FY21. Officials attribute the delay to complexities in the final routes involving tunnels, bridges, and curved tracks that require precision engineering.

Of 30 Indian states and union territories for which data is available, 25 are now fully electrified. Four others are above 90 per cent, and one exceeds 85 per cent completion. The government has allocated Rs 61.59 billion for electrification in FY26, including unspent funds from the previous year.

Electrification is a critical part of Indian Railways' decarbonisation strategy, aiming to cut its Rs 150 billion fuel bill and achieve net-zero emissions by 2030. Since independence, nearly 22,000 km has been electrified, with most of that achieved after FY18. At its peak, Indian Railways was electrifying over 16 km per day—one of the fastest rates globally, outpacing the EU (56 per cent), UK (38 per cent), and the US (1 per cent), with only Switzerland ahead at 99 per cent.

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