Story in numbers: Power for all

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a free power scheme for poor households. The ‘Saubhagya’ scheme is expected to electrify all willing households, as substitution for kerosene, while bringing about improvement in education, health services, communication and public safety. The government claimed it would create more jobs and provide better quality of life. Total outlay to provide free electricity to all poor families is pegged at Rs 16,320 crore, which will be funded to a large extent (Rs 12,320 crore) by the Centre, the government said. 

The outlay for electrification of rural households is Rs 14,025 crore, while Rs 2,295 crore is for poor urban households.

Rural Electrification Corporation will be the nodal agency for the operations of the scheme. Distribution companies will recover Rs 500 crore in 10 instalments of electricity bills. The beneficiaries of the Saubhagya scheme will be identified and targeted using the 2011 Census. The funding pattern for special category states would be as follows — 85 per cent grant from the Centre, five per cent from states and 10 per cent from loans.