Piyush Goyal promises electricity to all UP households by 2019

Says no shortage of coal in thermal plants in India, including UP; Centre ready to help state govt meet its energy needs

Union power, coal and new & renewable energy minister of state (independent charge) Piyush Goyal today reiterated the Centre was targetting to provide electricity to each household in Uttar Pradesh by 2019.

He said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that every household in India would be provided with electricity by 2022, the target for UP had been kept for 2019.

Addressing the media here, Goyal said the new central energy projects in UP had pledged to provide 85 percent of power to the state for greater power supply.

"There is no shortage of coal in any of the thermal power plants in India, including UP. We are ready to provide any help to the state government in meeting its energy needs," he added.

He claimed when the Modi government had come to power in May 2014, the rural power situation in UP was quite bad.

"During 2012-13, only three revenue villages had been electrified in UP, while in 2013-14, no village was electrified," he claimed adding the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) stepped into action and as a result, during 2014-15 and 2015-16, 1,364 villages had been electrified in the state.

This was achieved through sustained monitoring, review and ground work at the village level and coordinating with the state government agencies, Goyal quipped.

He further informed the Centre had sanctioned energy projects worth Rs 5,651 crore to the state. The progress of ongoing electrification process on real time basis can be tracked by users and stakeholders on GARV mobile app.

The Centre has also appointed Gram Vidyut Abhiyantas (GVA) to ensure implementation, coordination and monitoring of the rural electrification programme under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.

The central government is targetting to electrify 18,452 un-electrified villages by May 2018. So far, 7,146 villages had been electrified till April 2016.