Out of 18,450 villages without electricity, over 16,000

Union Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh today said that the government was committed to providing electricty to un-electrified households by 2019.
He said that out of the 18,450 villages without electricity, more than 16,800 had been given power supply as on date.
Speaking to reporters here, he said that the "Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana" also called "Saubhagya", launched in September last year, was a move towards this goal and that about 4 crore households would benefit from it.
Singh said that under this scheme, all un-electrified households in rural as well as urban areas were eligible, adding that non-poor households would have to pay Rs 500 in ten equal instalments along with their electricity bill every month.

He also announced that a 765 kV transmission line facility would be commissioned soon in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.