The Hindu Business Line : Rural electrification scheme — Power Ministry seeks 130 pc hike in allocation

THE Power Ministry has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Finance seeking a 130 per cent hike the allocation for the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana for the current fiscal.

As against Rs 1,100 crore earmarked for the programme during 2005-06, the Power Ministry has sought an allocation of Rs 2,500 crore, Government officials said.

The scheme, aiming at completing household electrification in the rural areas, was launched in July this year.

"The scheme has met with enthusiastic response from States, most of whom have already started work on the projects to be taken up.

"In the light of this, we have requested the Ministry of Finance to hike the allocation for the project this fiscal," a Power Ministry official said.

The Government is aiming to meet the National Common Minimum Programme of completing the household electrification in next five years and modernising the rural electricity infrastructure through the scheme.

The new programme could provide access to electricity to about 7.8 crore rural households in five years.

The scheme is being implemented by the state-owned Rural Electrification Corporation, which is providing 90 per cent of the capital cost of the programme on behalf of the Centre as grant for creating rural electricity distribution backbone with at least one 33/11 kV (or 66/11 kV) substation in each block.

Also, the scheme aims to set up village electrification infrastructure with at least one distribution transformer in each village and a system of decentralised distributed generation systems where grid supply is not feasible or cost-effective.

The scheme would provide free connections to all rural households living below poverty line.

"The earlier focus of electrification in rural areas had been primarily for irrigation and it has been done generally by extending the LT lines in a piecemeal manner resulting in unreliable and limited hours of power supply.

"The new programme aims at a qualitative transformation of the rural electricity infrastructure," an official said.

According to officials, a round-the-clock supply of reliable power would also enable dispersal of small industries, khadi and village industries in the rural areas.

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