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Electrification Efforts in India - Ambedkar

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November 28, 2018

What is the issue?

  • Recently, Indian PM announced the completion of electrification of all census villages.
  • In this context, a look at the efforts of electrification process in India becomes imperative.

How did electrification process evolve in India?

  • The vision and blueprint for electrifying the country was formulated by BR Ambedkar in early 1940s.
  • He was then the chairman of the Policy Committee on Public Works and Electric Power, established in 1943.
  • By 1945, Dr Ambedkar and his team had studied the problems and opportunities for electricity development in India.
  • They pursued provinces and states to impart a national perspective to electricity development.
  • Ambedkar's belief was that cheap and abundant electricity can only be provided through a centralised system.
  • He felt this was essential to ensure the success of industrialisation and bring about socio-economic development.
  • Electricity was dominated by the private sector and followed a decentralised model during pre-Independence era.
  • But the committee favoured the state enterprise in development of electricity supply using the best technology of the time.
  • Accordingly, the Electricity Supply Act got enacted in 1948.
  • India started carrying out electrification according to the plan formulated by the Ambedkar committee.

How did village electrification go?

  • During plan periods in the 1950s, there was focus on village electrification, primarily to support rural industries.
  • From mid-1960s to late-1980s, the focus shifted to pump-set energisation.
  • But not much progress could be achieved in electrifying villages and households.
  • Rural electrification increased to only 6% in 1973, 30% in 1991 and 43% in 2001.
  • Also, electric utilities were suffering from huge losses.
  • With over half the population without electricity access in 2001, the government launched the Rural Electricity Supply Technology Mission.
  • This aimed at enhancing electricity access in a targeted manner, using both grid and off-grid technologies.
  • It was followed by major policy reforms with the passage of Electricity Act, 2003.

What is the present scenario?

  • Rural electrification got the impetus since the enactment of Electricity Act, 2003, which obligated both Centre and states to enable electricity access.
  • It led to the launch of large-scale electrification effort in 2005 by the central government.
  • Efforts to create access to electricity for all households and provide free connections to all below poverty line households were taken up.
  • In its latest report, World Energy Outlook 2018, the International Energy Agency called India a “star performer”.
  • This was in terms of achieving the milestone of providing power to each village.
  • Around half a billion people have gained access to electricity in India since early 2000s.

What is the case with household electrification?

  • While villages were getting electrified during the last decade and a half, household electrification was lagging.
  • The government launched the Saubhagya Scheme, or the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, in September 2017.
  • It aimed at connecting all non-electrified households by March 2019.
  • It’s a first-of-its-kind scheme focusing on household electrification, regardless of economic status.
  • It aims to cover 30 million households in rural areas, of which 20 million have been connected.

 

Source: Financial Express

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