The Railways has prepared a blueprint for electrification of its entire network with by investing Rs 40,000 crore in the next four years.

The Railways aims to engage public sector undertakings, including IRCON, RITES and Power Grid Corporation, to complete the task, a senior official said.

At present, 43% of the total 60,000 km of broad gauge network is electrified. The energy bill is touching about Rs 32,000 crore a year, of which diesel costs about Rs 18,000 crore.

The Railways is expecting to save around Rs 11,000 crore once the entire route is electrified. The ministry hopes to raise funds through internal resources, the official said.

Through electrification, the Railways will achieve its target to reduce fuel costs as well as carbon footprint, the official added.

The Railways will also require an additional 5,000 electric locomotives in the next three to five years. At present, there are 4,500 such loco engines.

The Railways is hoping to meet the demand once the Alstom plant being set up at Madhepura, Bihar, begins operations.

Apart from this, the ministry is also planning to augment its production from its electric loco manufacturing unit in Varanasi and Chittaranjan Locomotive Works in West Bengal.

The Railways has expedited the speed of electrification from the current average of 1,700 km per year to 4,000 km in 2017-18.

At present, 67% of freight traffic and 50% of passenger traffic plies on the electric network.

Running an electric locomotive network is 50% cheaper than diesel engines.