India has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity of GDP between 33-35 per cent below 2005 baseline by 2030 in its first Nationally Determined Contribution. As a part of this, India aims to promote a modal shift from roadways to railways by increasing the share of railways in total land transportation from 36 per cent to 45 per cent by 2030.
The transportation sector plays a pivotal role in the economic, industrial, and social development of India that comprises several modes including railways, roadways, shipping, inland waterways, and airways. The sector is also one of the highest emitters of greenhouse gases and accounted for 12 per cent of the total emissions in the country in 2016.
In transportation, railways and roadways form the largest network in the country. Road transport is the dominant mode of goods and passenger transport in India. As of 2017, 22 per cent of freight demand is met by rail, while 78 per cent is transported by road.
However, road transport is heavily dependent on fossil consumption such as high-speed diesel oil and petrol and hence extremely emissions-intensive. On the other hand, railways with significant electrification have a lesser carbon footprint.
In 2014, road transport emitted 90.1 per cent of the total emissions of the sector, whereas railways contributed to 3.1 per cent.
Railways aim to increase its modal share in freight by 45 per cent in 10 years. This first phase of the project (Western and Eastern dedicated freight corridor) is estimated to reduce 457 mtCO2e over 30 years. Electrification of rail could result in a 45 mtCO2e reduction by 2030. Solar power of 102.44 MW has already been installed covering 862 stations. With all these endeavours, 31.54 billion tCO2e emissions reduction could be achieved, considering 36 per cent rail share in freight and 15 per cent in passenger transport.
However, for such modal shift to take place, there requires concerted effort towards a new policy and institutional regime that will:
- Ensure a robust Measurement, Reporting and Verification mechanism to track the progress of modal shift and emission reductions accrued thereof.
- Lead to a collaborative institutional structure that ensures seamless exchange of information across all line ministries and departments.
- Make use of technology innovation and digital platforms for the exchange of data based on which informed policy decisions may be made.
- Bring change in user’s preference towards rail transport.
(The study was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC-India) and GIZ under the Indo-German bilateral cooperation project on “Supporting the Institutionalisation of Capacities on Climate Change Studies and Actions (ICCC)” commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and being implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)).