The power ministry has chalked out a comprehensive action plan in consultation with states for electrification of all villages which remain unelectrified in the country, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.
Addressing a workshop here on rural electrification, the minister also said that off-grid solutions have been worked out for 3,500 villages located in remote areas where grid extension is either not feasible or cost effective, a power ministry statement said.
"In pursuance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on 69th Independence Day regarding electrifying remaining 18,500 un-electrified villages in the country within the next 1,000 days, the ministry of power has taken up the village electrification programme on mission mode," Goyal said.
Earlier this month, in a report saying India's poverty rate in 2012 was the lowest among countries having large poor populations, the World Bank said rural electrification in India had brought changes in consumption and earnings, and promoted girls' schooling by reallocating their time to tasks more conducive to school attendance.
India, however, accounted for the largest number of poor people in any country in 2012, the report added.
