Govt's LED drive to save over Rs 45,000 crore : Economic Survey

By March 2019, government is planning to replace 77 crore incandescent bulbs with LED and 3.5 crore conventional streetlights with energy-efficient LED lights

Government's plan to change 77 crore conventional bulbs and 3.5 crore conventional street lights with LED range would save Rs 45,500 crore by reducing 21,500 MW electricity demand, the Economic Survey 2015-16 said.

National LED programme will also facilitate India's commitment towards reducing its emission intensity per unit of GDP by 33-35 per cent by 2030 under its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC).

"It is estimated that the National LED programme will result in annual electricity saving of about 109 billion units and a 21,500 MW reduction in demand along with monetary savings of Rs 45,500 crore accruing to domestic consumers and urban local bodies," said the survey tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament Friday .

Additionally, it will play a major role in mitigating climate change by effecting reductions of 85 million tonnes of CO2 annually.

By March 2019, government is planning to replace 77 crore incandescent bulbs with LED under Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) and 3.5 crore conventional streetlights with energy-efficient LED lights under the Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP).

To meet the demand, the programme is expected to encourage and support domestic manufacturing of LED bulbs, making it consistent with the Make in India policy of the government.

Presently, LED bulbs are only assembled here while its chip is imported along with some other parts.

National LED programme which was launched on January 5, 2015 had installed 4.77 crore units under DELP and 5.51 lakh units under SLNP as on January 15, 2016, avoiding 1,547.2 MWs of peak demand.

To meet the target, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) along with Discoms is distributing LED bulbs to consumers at Rs 10 per unit against the market price of Rs 350-400.

The upfront investment made by EESL is paid back by cost recovery from consumers by deduction of easy instalments of Rs 10 every month for 8-12 months.