2.82 crore households have been electrified since the launch of Saubhagya

New Delhi, 26 September (H.S): As many as 2.82 crore households have been electrified since the launch of Saubhagya. As of March 2019, 2.63 crore willing un-electrified households in rural and urban areas of the country were provided electricity connections in a record time of 18 months. Subsequently seven states- Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh reported that around 18.85 lakh un-electrified households, identified before 31.03.2019, which were unwilling earlier, but later expressed their willingness to get electricity connections, were also covered under the scheme.

Saubhagya is one of the largest household electrification drives in the world. The scheme was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25th September 2017. The objective of the scheme was achieving Universal Household Electrification in the country, through last mile connectivity and providing access to electricity to all un-electrified households in rural areas and poor households in urban areas. While launching the scheme, the Prime Minister pledged to provide access to electricity and work towards equity, efficiency and sustainability in the New Age India.

The total financial implications of the project was Rs. 16,320 crore while the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) was Rs. 12,320 crore. The outlay for the rural households was Rs. 14,025 crore while the GBS was Rs. 10,587.50 crore. For the urban households, the outlay stood at Rs. 2,295 crore while GBS was Rs. 1,732.50 crore. The Government of India largely provided funds for the Scheme to all States/UTs.

The journey started with Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) which envisaged the creation of basic electricity infrastructure in villages. The focus of the scheme was on strengthening & augmentation the existing infrastructure and metering of existing feeders/distribution transformers to improve the quality and reliability of power supply in rural areas.

Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – Saubhagya envisioned providing energy access to all by last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrified households in rural as well as urban areas to achieve universal household electrification in the country. The electricity connection to households included the release of electricity connections by drawing a service cable from the nearest pole to the household premise, installation of an energy meter, wiring for a single light point with LED bulb, and a mobile charging point.