Fifteen States now have 100 per cent household electrification, according to Power Minister RK Singh. The government is hopeful of achieving the same for every household across the country by December-end.

India has over 24 crore households in 29 States and 7 Union territories. In an effort to provide electricity to the remaining households, a scheme called Saubhagya (Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana) was launched in September, 2017.

“Eight States have achieved 100 per cent saturation in household electrification under Saubhagya namely Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Bihar, J&K, Mizoram, Sikkim, Telangana and West Bengal,” Singh told reporters after the ‘Review, Planning & Monitoring (RPM)’ Meeting with States and State power utilities. With these, 15 States in the country now have 100 per cent household electrification.

The Minister said 2.1 crore connections have been released under Saubhagya so far. “ More State like Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are left with small number of un-electrified households and are expected to achieve saturation any time,” he said adding that achievement of 100 per cent household electrification in the country would be a major milestone in the direction to achieve 24x7 power for all.

“The government is committed to ensure 24x7 access to electricity for all by March 31, 2019,” he said.

In order to ensure that no un-electrified household is left in the States which have already achieved 100 per cent household electrification, they have been requested to take up campaign to publicise the achievement all across the areas, so that anyone left out for any reasons may avail electricity connection under Saubhagya.

For creating healthy competition amongst various power departments of States and distribution companies (DISCOMS), an award scheme has been instituted with awards of more than ₹300 crore to be won by States/Discoms.

The first DISCOM/Power Department to complete 100 per cent household electrification will be felicitated with cash award of ₹50 lakh for the employees and ₹100 crore grant to be spent for distribution infrastructure. For the purpose of award, States have been divided into 3 categories and award would be given in each of these categories. The States completing 100 per cent household electrification by December 31, 2018 will also receive additional grant of 15 per cent of the project cost (5 per cent for special category States) sanctioned under Saubhagya.

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