VIJAYAWADA: As part of the efforts to enhance awareness among the people in rural areas on energy efficiency and conservation and provide high quality lighting, the State government is going to distribute 10 lakh LED bulbs to households in rural Andhra Pradesh at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 10 per bulb under the Gram Ujala programme, between December 14 and February 15 next year.
Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), a subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Limited, will supply the bulbs to the State to mark the Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav.
In a communication to energy secretary Srikant Nagulapalli, MD & CEO of CESL Mahua Acharya said the CESL is keen to distribute around 10 lakh LED bulbs to Andhra Pradesh on the occasion of Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav on National Energy Conservation Day (December 14). The programme will continue up to February 2022.
She said the implementation of Gram Ujala programme through distribution of the LED bulbs in rural areas of AP will help lessen the burden of electricity bills to some extent on the rural households and helps to reduce peak power demand substantially for AP power utilities.
The CESL MD briefed the Secretary that AP is one of the five States selected for the implementation of the scheme. The other being Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Gujarat.
She told Srikanth that the entire expenditure for the distribution of 10 lakh LEDs will be borne by CESL and there would not be any financial burden on the power utilities or the State government.
“The objective of the scheme is that the rural people who are unable to afford high quality lighting can benefit from Gram Ujala, which is an innovative project that achieves social objectives, income savings as well as climate change benefits arising from energy efficiency”, she said.
While thanking CESL for its energy efficiency initiative for the rural population of the State, the energy secretary said Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has been emphasising the need for providing 24x7 quality and cost effective power for which this Gram Ujala project will have a good impact on the States objective. As per the directions of the chief minister, the power utilities have been providing 24X7 quality power supply in the State even in remote areas of the rural pockets, he said.
The Andhra Pradesh energy secretary informed Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy about the Gram Ujala project and explained that the LEDs offered under this initiative are energy efficient, and of high quality and long lasting. They consume 88 per cent less energy when compared to incandescent bulbs.
LED is a highly energy efficient lighting technology and lasts 25 times longer than incandescent lighting in general. The LEDs emit very less heat comparing with the incandescent bulbs and CFLs which releases 90 per cent and 80 per cent of their energy as heat respectively.