Indian Railways’ electrification project for its broad-gauge network is facing delays, with full completion now expected by the end of 2025, a person aware of the matter said. Challenges in the northeastern and southern regions—particularly with last-mile connections—are the primary roadblocks.
The original target was to complete the electrification within the first 100 days of the new government, by September 2024. However, delays in Assam and Tripura have hindered progress. While Tripura has been fully electrified, 382km of track in Assam remain unfinished, according to latest data from ministry of railways.
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According to the ministry data, as of March 2025, the railways had electrified 68,701km, or 98.83%, of its total 69,512km broad-gauge network. However, work on the remaining 811 route km is progressing slowly, with completion now expected by Q3 FY26. In FY25, the railways electrified just 2,701km, falling short of its usual pace of over 6,000km per year since FY19.
The remaining work involves 93km in Rajasthan, 151 km in Karnataka, 169km in Tamil Nadu, 16km in Goa, and 382km in Assam. The original target of completing electrification by December 2023 has been revised multiple times, with the latest target now set for the end of FY26, the person quoted above said.
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Queries sent to the ministry of railways remained unanswered till press time.
“As railway electrification nears completion, the last leg often involves intricate work on specific routes and sections, requiring precise coordination with existing infrastructure, including other railway lines, roads, and bridge as such projects may be encountering tight curves, bridges, or tunnels or other geographical challenges delaying and slowing construction,” said a former railway board member engineering, on condition of anonymity.
Railways had been moving swiftly on electrification for the past three to four year surpassing the target of 6,000 route km each year since FY21, barring FY25 when it missed a target of 2,885km by a small margin, electrifying about 2,701km as per ministry of railways statistics.
According to the ministry, out of 30 states and union territories (for which estimates were available), electrification has been completed in 25, above 90% level in four, and above 85% in one.
The government provided ₹6,159 crore for electrification works in the budget for FY26 which also includes unused funds from the previous year, the person cited earlier said.
Electrification is expected to yield significant cost savings, reducing the railways’ annual fuel bill of over ₹15,000 crore. Moreover, it is a key part of Indian Railways’ commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, positioning itself as the world’s largest green rail system.
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Since 1948, Indian Railways has electrified approximately 22,000 route km, with a notable acceleration since FY18. In recent years, the pace has steadily increased, with over 6,500km electrified in FY23 alone. At 98.83% electrification, Indian Railways outpaces global peers—such as the EU (56%), UK (38%), and the US (1%)—with only Switzerland achieving a higher rate of 99%.
While the pace of electrification is currently the fastest in the world, at over 16 route km per day, the final phase of the project is expected to proceed at a slower rate.
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