VIJAYAWADA: To promote energy efficiency, LED bulbs will be distributed to 8.84 lakh families in rural areas of Krishna district from February under the Gram UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable Lighting for All) scheme by the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), in coordination with the State government.
Each rural household will be given four high quality LED bulbs at a nominal price of Rs 10 each to replace conventional bulbs under the scheme. Krishna is one among five districts in India, in which the initiative will be rolled out.
According to the Energy Department officials, the EESL will launch the Gram Ujala scheme in five districts -- Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Vadnagar (Gujarat), Krishna (Andhra Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra) and Arrah (Bihar) -- in the country.
“It is proposed to provide four high quality LED bulbs to each rural household in exchange of 60 W by 7W LED bulb and 100W by 12W LED bulb in the five selected districts. The EESL will invest Rs 450 crore to distribute LED bulbs in Andhra Pradesh,” said EESL Executive Vice-Chairman Saurabh Kumar, in a letter written to the State Energy Department.
The LED bulbs are likely to be distributed in Vijayawada Rural, Vuyyuru, Nuzvid, Machilipatnam, Gudivada and Gunadala of Krishna district. The entire investment for the implementation of Gram Ujala scheme shall be borne by the EESL and there will be no financial burden on Discoms/State government, said a statement from the Energy Department on Sunday.
“LED is a highly energy efficient lighting technology. Residential LEDs use at least 75 per cent less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent lighting in general,” said Energy Secretary Srikant Nagulapalli. EESL Managing Director Rajat Kumar Sud has discussed the initiative with the Secretary. The EESL Executive Vice-Chairman who met Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy recently to brief him about the Gram Ujala scheme, has also said that AP is considered one of the best States in the country in the area of energy efficiency, promotion of renewable energy and over all best performance in the power sector.
Gram UJALA scheme
Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh)
Vadnagar (Gujarat)
Krishna (Andhra Pradesh)
Nagpur (Maharashtra)
Arrah (Bihar)
Each household to be given 4 LED bulbs
Rs 10 - Price of LED bulb
Rs 450 crore
Total investment