India has achieved its long pending goal of 100% electrification of its villages.
But there is still a long way to go in providing electricity to all households in the country.
What is the actual scenario of rural electrification?
Recently Union government announced it has achieved 100% rural electrification.
The definition of electrification was limited to the provision of basic infrastructure such as transformers, of electricity in public places like schools and panchayats, and electrification of at least 10% households in the village.
India continues to harbour energy poverty with 31 million rural households and about five million urban households still unconnected to the electricity grid.
A significant portion of connected rural households are yet to get adequate quantity and quality of supply.
What are plans of the government on electrification?
Union government under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) planning to provide universal electrification.
By which it has an ambitious target of connecting all remaining households by the end of March 2019 and made budgetary allocations to cover the cost of electrification.
As part of a Centre-State joint initiative on 24×7 ‘Power for All’, State governments have already committed to ensuring round-the-clock supply to all households from April 2019.
What are the challenges for India’s electrification target?
Regional imbalances in electricity access is persisting in seven States namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which account for 90% of un-electrified households.
Coincidentally, these States are ranked poorly in social development indices and house about two-thirds of the population living below the poverty line.
There are a range of implementation shortcomings in universal electrification by state governments due to sluggish finance structure of the union government.
Most of the Indian power distribution companies (discoms) in these states are bankrupt and are unable to purchase power and provide it to consumers.
As a result, discoms don’t have the capacity to sign power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Add to this the issue of aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, heightened by the rampant problem of power theft.
Given the context, it is uncertain whether the goal of electrifying all ‘willing households’ by March 2019 would translate into universal access to electricity.
