NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways will start tendering 8,000 km of rail lines for electrification every year, starting next financial year, to complete the network electrification target in the next five years.In a first, the contract size that will be awarded on the government-funded engineering-procurement and construction (EPC) model, will be mostly in the range of 1,500-2,000 km to achieve faster completion. “We are standardising designs and processes to save time and cost. Along with that, we are building a pipeline for bidders so that they’re sure about the quantum of contracts available for the next four-five years,” a top railway official said.The official said instructions have gone across to zones to send details of high-density corridors that should be prioritised. Almost 70% of traffic in both passenger and freight segments is mostly on 40,000 km of rail routes. Nearly half of the 66,000-km railway tracks in the country have been electrified so far.The railways, which currently has a fuel bill of Rs 26,500 crore, will save Rs 10,500 crore in fuel bill annually by electrifying its entire route. The cost for electrifying would be around Rs 30,000-35,000 crore. Railways is aiming to cut project cost by at least 20% by offering large contracts.There’s buoyancy in both private and public sector companies given the large size and cost of contracts lined up.“Railways is trying to achieve what would not have been done otherwise. Large contracts provide us with the headroom to offer better rates. Also, it provides a future outlook of order books,” an L&T executive told ET, requesting anonymity. An executive from KEC also echoed the same views.“The concentrated and focused push being given by railways and the much larger package sizes now being awarded to firms of repute are a positive pointer to assume that the targets can be met,” Vinayak Chatterjee, chairman, Feedback Infra, said.To raise the required funds, railways would deploy funds raised from Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Indian Railway Finance Corporation ( IRFC ) towards electrification. The national transporter could also go for borrowings from Rural Electrification Corporation (REC).“Since the return on electrification projects is high, we may even consider using IRFC funds that are currently only used for acquiring rolling stock,” an official from the rail finance department said.