100% electrification of households likely to be completed by year end

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised on 15 August 2015 that every village in the country would be electrified within 1,000 days.

New Delhi, Nov 21: The BJP-led government at the Centre achieved a remarkable feat of electrifying every village in the country in April this year and now by the end of this year every household is likely to be electrified. Power Minister R K Singh said that only 50 lakh households are left to be covered.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised on 15 August 2015 that every village in the country would be electrified within 1,000 days. When Leisang, a tiny village in Manipur, was electrified on April 28, 2018, the Modi government achieved 100% electrification of rural India and it was done in 988 days of making that promise.

Power Minister RK Singh

Power Minister R K Singh on Wednesday (November 21) exuded confidence that 100 per cent household electrification under the Saubhagya scheme would be achieved by the end of 2018 as only 50 lakh families are left to be covered. The Union and the state power ministers in a meeting in July had decided to provide electricity connections to all families by December 2018 against the earlier target of March 2019. Singh in an open article said that power consumer base was increasing at a rate of one lakh per day and estimates suggested that the number of households left were less than 50 lakh.

"At this rate, almost 50 more days required to achieve 100 per cent household electrification. If we do it faster, less days to achieve the goal," he added.

Prime Minister Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2017 had launched the Rs 16,320-crore ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana' - Saubhagya to achieve universal household electrification.

Milestone of electrifying 2 crore households was achieved on Nov 19

"We have set an ambitious goal for ourselves - the goal of providing access to 24x7 power for all in the country. Access to power here represents not only the connectivity to the network but also includes availability of requisite infrastructure across the power sector value chain to ensure supply of quality and reliable power. And we are well on our way to achieve our goal," the minister mentioned.

100% electrification of villages was acheived in April this year

India crossed the milestone of electrifying 2 crore households under the Saubhagya scheme, which started in October 2017, on November 19, 2018. He lauded that the initiatives of the government have helped the country in achieving 24th rank in 2018 on World Bank's Ease of Getting Electricity as against 111th rank in 2014.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs