Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

Railways plan to set up mega bio-diesel plant

TIRUCHI: A mega bio-diesel plant is proposed to be established inside the Southern Railway Loco Works at Perambur in Chennai within a couple of years to enhance the production of bio-diesel for railway usage, the Chief Mechanical Engineer, Southern Railway V. Carmelus said on Tuesday.

Southern Railway will provide space, necessary infrastructure facilities, and man the proposed mega bio-diesel unit which would be set up by the Indian Railways Organisation for Alternate Fuels, he said while speaking at the World Environment Day celebrations organised at the Golden Rock Railway Workshop here.

The proposed mega plant would have the capacity to manufacture one lakh litres of bio-diesel per day and the entire produce would be used for the requirements of Southern Railway and other railway zones.

Mr. Carmelus said the pilot bio-diesel plant now functioning at Southern Railway Loco Works at Perambur has the capacity to produce 500 litres per day, adding that the objective was to go for mass production in the near future.

The proposed mega plant would be commissioned within a couple of years and the Southern Railway would enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Railways Organisation for Alternate Fuels in this regard.

Besides being utilised for diesel locomotives, bio-diesel produced from the pilot plant was also being used for road vehicles belonging to the railways such as lorry, jeep and car. The railways had recently set up a 10.5 MW wind energy plant at Muppandhal in Kanyakumari district and electrical energy generated from the unit met the requirements of the Integral Coach Factory at Chennai.

For the first time, Southern Railway had plans to put into use bio-degradable disposable bed rolls in the first AC coaches of the Pandyan Express shortly. Based on the travellers’ feedback, it would be extended to other trains in the near future, Mr. Carmelus said. The Chief Workshop Manager, Golden Rock Railway Workshop J.N. Digi and others spoke on the occasion.

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