Power supply to 18,500 villages in three years

Of these, around 3,500 will get it through off-grid or renewable energy solutions

Taking forward an announcement made by the Prime Minister on August 15, the Union ministry of power has readied a plan to electrify 18,500 villages in three years. Of these, around 3,500 would get it through off-grid or renewable energy solutions.

The central government will work with Rural Electrification Corporation and state power utilities on this ‘Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana’ (DUGJY), in 17 states.

Announcing the plan, Piyush Goyal, the Union minister for coal, power and renewable energy, said the plan had been prepared in consultation with the states concerned, for electrification of all villages which continued to not have access to it. The 3,500 villages mentioned earlier are in areas where grid extension is either not feasible or cost effective. The off-grid solutions have been prepared in consultation with the ministry of new and renewable energy. DUGJY aims at 100 per cent rural electrification through additional use of feeder separation and off-grid solutions.

For implementation and monitoring, the Centre has appointed ‘Gram Vidyut Abhiyantas’ (GVAs) for spreading awareness and to assist on the ground. REC has put 309 GVAs at the block or district levels to assist state distribution utilities.

The states in question are Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan and seven in the northeast.