100% rural electrification achieved in 2018

In early 2018, India became the third largest producer of electricity in the world with annual output of 1,423 TWh. The production became equitable when the nation successfully connected 597,464 census villages to the power grid. This has been achieved with more than 21 million electricity connections released under the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya Scheme) as well as the 100 per cent village electrification reported under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGKY). While expanding domestic access to electricity, India has emerged as net exporter of electricity to Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Meanwhile, emphasis have been put on power conservation with mass distribution of low consumption LED bulbs and street lights.

The efforts have helped improve India’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of doing business – “Getting Electricity” parameter to 24 in 2018 from 137 in 2014. In fact, the Government is committed to ensure 24X7 power supply for all by end-March 2019. This has not just improved standard of living in India, but brought in substantial improvement in India’s image as an investment destination. The focus is now on electrifying every household under the Saubhagya Scheme, which is expected to be achieved before schedule as steps are being taken to reform and strengthen the power sector as a whole including power generation, transmission and distribution. Besides capacity addition, energy efficiency has been targeted through Mobile applications like PRAAPTI, Ash Track.

The achievements for Ministry of Power are as below:

Saubhagya Scheme

• Launched for universal electrification in September, 2017, the scheme has electrified more than 21 million households since October 2017
• Nine states with 100% household electrification – Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Bihar, J&K, Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Sikkim, Telangana and West Bengal
• 16 states have 100% household electrification; states like Maharashtra, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh are close to the goal

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGKY)

• 100% village electrification achieved
• Project outlay of US$10.8 billion
• 258,870 km HT and LT lines
• 4.10.146 distribution transformers

Generation capacity

• Around 107,000 MW generation capacity added till October 2018 since April 2014
• All India installed capacity raised by 39.2% to 346,048 MW as of October 2018
• 7203 MU supplied to Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar in FY 2018-19 (Up to October)
• Energy deficit reduced from 4.2% in FY 2013-14 to 0.6% in FY 2018-19 (Up to October)
• Peak demand met up by 35.2% to 175,528 MW over April-October 2018 from 2013-14
• Energy Availability up by 35.2% to 764.627 BU over April-October 2018 from 2013-14