Push for electricity to last 4,141 villages by 2018, says minister

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said that "a final push" is needed to provide electricity to the 4,141 un-electrified villages in the country by 2018.

According to the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines, in the next 3-4 months, "a final push is needed to electrify the remaining 4,141 un-electrified villages in the country."

The minister spoke at the two-day State Power Ministers' Conference being held here.

Goyal also reiterated the resolution taken in the last State Power Ministers' conference to provide electricity to every household in the country by December 2018. The last such meeting was held in Vadodara, Gujarat.

The minister observed that the objective of the current conference is to review the work done in the power, coal, renewable energy and mining sectors by the state and union territories' governments in the past six months.

"Further, the conference intends to forge new policies for achieving the goal of providing 24x7 quality and affordable power for all in the stipulated time...," the Ministry of Power said in a statement.

--IANS

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