Household electrification under Saubhagya to be completed before March deadline: R K Singh

Complete household electrification in the country under the Rs 16,320 crore Saubhagya scheme would be completed latest by February, ahead of the March deadline, Power Minister R K Singh said Friday.

However, it was unanimously resolved at the state power ministers' meet chaired by Singh in July this year that all households in the country would be electrified under the scheme by December 31, 2018.

"We have already electrified 2.2 crore households. We are adding (electrifying) 100,000 everyday. In another one and half month, we would reach our target.

"We had set the target of electrifying every household by March 31, 2019. But we would achieve that target by end January or (by) February," Singh said while addressing a National Energy Conservation Day function here.

According to the latest information on the Saubhagya portal, as many as 2.21 crore households have been electrified under the scheme and 78.65 lakh families are to be energised in the programme.

The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana - Saubhagya scheme was launched by Prime Minister on September 25, 2017.

Under the scheme, free electricity connections are provided to all households in rural areas and poor families in urban areas. State-run REC Ltd has been designated as the nodal agency for the scheme.

On this occasion, the Ministry of Power launched the 'ECO Niwas Samhita 2018', an Energy Conservation Building Code for residential buildings (ECBC-R) in the presence of chief guest Sumitra Mahajan, Speaker, Lok Sabha.

The code aims to benefit the occupants and the environment by promoting energy efficiency in design and construction of homes, apartments and townships.

Implementation of this code will have potential for energy savings to the tune of 125 billion units of electricity by 2030, which is equivalent to about 100 million tonnes of CO2 emission, a statement said.

The ECBC for commercial buildings is already in place and its updated version was launched in June 2017.