Last-mile blues for railways' total electrification project

Challenges in the northeastern and southern regions delaying completion to end of 2025

- Subhash Narayan

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, 382 km of track in Assam remain unfinished, according to latest data from the ministry of railways.

According to the ministry data, as of March 2025, the railways had electrified 68,701 km, or 98.83%, of its total 69,512 km broad-gauge network.

However, work on the remaining 811 km route is progressing slowly, with completion now expected by Q3 FY26. In FY25, the railways electrified just 2,701 km, falling short of its usual pace of over 6,000 km per year since FY19.