Gujarat emerges fastest distributor of LED bulbs under Ujala

The state has distributed over 3 mn bulbs in 19 days

Gujarat has distributed more than three million light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs under government of India's Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (Ujala) scheme. With this, the state has become fastest distributor of the LED bulbs in India.

This scheme was launched in Gujarat on May 26, 2016 and the milestone of distributing three million LED bulbs has been achieved within a short span of only 19 days.

Neelima Jain, the national program manager, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) said, "The response from the people of Gujarat has been tremendous. The scheme will play a key role in large energy savings in the state by use of energy efficient LEDs."

On June 13, Gujarat logged an off-take of 336,000 LED bulbs in one single day. This is the highest off-take in one day across all states in India. The scheme is being implemented by EESL, a joint venture of leading PSUs under the administration of Ministry of Power, Government of India.

"Under this scheme EESL aims to distribute 12 crore of 9 watt LED bulbs in Gujarat and is presently distributing an average of 150,000 LED bulbs daily in the state, which is yet another milestone for the Ujala scheme in India," said Neelima Jain.

The Gujarat Government is contributing Rs 10 per LED bulb on behalf of every domestic consumer for the purchase of first 10 bulbs. Post this contribution by the Government, the scheme allows residential consumers to avail up to 10 LED bulbs at an upfront price of Rs 80 per bulb or they can choose to pay in EMI without any upfront payment.

Consumers choosing to pay through EMI will have to pay Rs 85 in total, where an amount of nearly Rs 20 per LED bulb will be added to their bi-monthly electricity bill for a period of four billing cycles. It is estimated that consumers will save nearly Rs 336 every year on their electricity bills per LED bulb, making the LED bulbs free to the consumers in just 3 months.