New Delhi, Feb. 14 -- In what will rank among the largest green energy tenders in the country, the Indian Railways plans to invite bids for 3 gigawatt (GW) renewable energy projects worth Rs.18,000 crore in the next fiscal, according to two government officials aware of the development. The move is a part of the behemoth's playbook to become a net zero carbon emitter by 2030 while also significantly slashing its fuel costs. According to the officials, the carbon footprint reduction plan will help the national carrier save around Rs.1 trillion in energy costs by 2030. These projects, to be set up on railways' land, rooftops of 8,000 railway stations and along rail tracks, will be bid out by Railway Energy Management Co Ltd (REMCL), a joint venture between the Indian Railways and RITES Ltd, as part of the railways' plan to procure 20GW of green power by 2030. The green energy will help feed Indian Railways' track electrification drive; with 69,427 route kilometres being electrified, accounting for about 99.2% of its total network, the officials said. Indian Railways has one of the largest land holdings in the country, with nearly 5 lakh hectares of land bank. The development also assumes significance given that the Indian Railways is among the country's largest electricity consumers, with projected consumption of around 72 billion units by FY30 as against 21 billion units now, making power procurement costs a key lever for financial efficiency. Most green projects are being executed under the developer mode through long-term power purchase agreements, though the Railways has also explored models such as design-build-finance-own-operate (DBFOO) for solar parks. Design-build-finance-own-operate (DBFOO) is a public-private partnership model, where a private entity is responsible for designing, constructing, financing, owning, and operating a facility, often in perpetuity or for a very long term. The transporter is looking to leverage its substantial land bank, with 12%-or over 60,000 hectares-of Railway land being idle even as several other countries have adapted to tap such resources for their green transition....