Sandeep Singh
When NDA government took over in May 2014, there were still 30 crore people without access to electricity in Bharat. It was a matter of distress that even after 67 years of Independence affordable 24×7 power for all was still a dream.
Key Decisions
Schemes
Impact
|
The NDA Government took the crisis in power sector as an opportunity. Coal is the mainstay of India’s energy needs. Apart from streamlining the Coal distribution the process has been estimated to bring in coal bearing States potential revenue of about Rs. 3.44 lakh crore over the lifetime of 74 mines.
The last two years have seen a massive jump in coal production i.e. by 7.4 crore tonnes in 2014-16. Coal India Limited’s output increased by 8.6% in 2015-16, the highest in almost three decades.
Gas based power plants with 11,717 MW capacity, which, were lying idle due to non-availability of fuel since 2014 were supplied Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas through reverse e-auction. Consequently, electricity from gas-based power plants saw a strong year on year growth of 44% in March 2016.
To fix the distribution sector, the weakest link in the power value chain, UDAY was launched. A massive drive has been undertaken under Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana to electrify all the 18,452 un-electrified villages by 2019. In just one year, 7,766 villages have been electrified. More than 9 crore LED bulbs distributed by government agencies in just one year, under UJALA scheme. In agriculture sector, 31,472 solar pumps have been installed in one year.
