India has made great strides in energy-sector under Modi government. All the villages of India now have access to electricity and its renewable energy sector has attracted investment of 42 billion dollars in the last four years.
India has progressed leaps and bounds when it comes to providing electricity to people living in India. April 28, 2018 was a momentous day in India’s history. On this day, PM Modi announced that the goal of 100% electrification of India has been achieved, well before the deadline. Leisang village in Manipur became the last village to be electrified under Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY). Given the historic milestone, PM Modi congratulated the Nation.
28th April 2018 will be remembered as a historic day in the development journey of India. Yesterday, we fulfilled a commitment due to which the lives of several Indians will be transformed forever! I am delighted that every single village of India now has access to electricity.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 29, 2018
The massive electrification drive covering the length and breadth of India is quite an achievement by PM Modi and his government. Piyush Goyal led Ministry of Power was instrumental in achieving the target of 100% rural electrification, well ahead of the deadline. Now, International Energy Agency (IEA) has lauded the efforts of Modi government to electrify every village of the country. IEA has called the move to energize every village of the nation with electricity as ‘one of the greatest success stories in the world this year’. The achievement in itself was a monumental one and as such this validation from the international agency is a major boost for the Ministry of Power and the Modi government.
The agency said, “Electricity can increase productive hours in a household leading to positive outcomes on education and economic well being. It can also spur innovation and lead to entrepreneurial micro businesses ventures and, in time, lead to greater agricultural yields. Benefits also flow to the likes of schools, banking and medical services.” It also said that electric lighting makes all other polluting fuels used for lighting such as candles, kerosene etc redundant, which is beneficial both to the environment and individuals.
The Economic Times has quoted PwC partner Kameswara Rao saying, “India’s success, in electrifying all village households, is far more noteworthy given the large population, distance, and low affordability. The last 10-15% of the target is always the most challenging, and it took a strong political will and diligent work by the utilities to get it done.”
The IEA has also lauded Modi government’s effort to provide clean cooking fuel to people. IEA has said that it will reduce premature deaths from pollution.
On 1st May 2016, PM Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. The scheme was launched to provide clean energy to marginalized people of India who still use firewood, dung cakes, coal, or kerosene for cooking. According to WHO estimates, about 5 lakh deaths in India occur due to unclean cooking fuels. Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children. According to experts, having an open fire in the kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour.
Under Ujjwala Yojana, 5 Cr LPG connections were to be provided to BPL families with a financial support of Rs. 1600 per connection, in the next 3 years. However, the government successfully completed its target almost nine months before the deadline. So far, over 5 crore LPG connections have been provided under Ujjwala Yojana.
According to an ‘Economic Times’ report, the IEA said such initiatives boost productivity that improves economic well-being, and can spur innovation that can boost micro businesses, farm yields and help growth of schools, banks and medical services.