The ministry of power said that as many as 2.82 crore households got electricity connection till March 31 this year under the flagship Saubhagya scheme. 

The ministry issued a statement on the completion of four years of the scheme.

What is Saubhagya scheme?

• Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) is one of the largest household electrification drives in the world. 

• The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 25, 2017.

• The objective of the scheme is achieving ‘Universal Household Electrification’ in the country, through last-mile connectivity and providing access to electricity to all un-electrified households in rural areas and poor households in urban areas. 

• The journey started with ‘Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)’ which envisaged the creation of basic electricity infrastructure in villages. 

• The focus of the scheme is on strengthening and augmentation of the existing infrastructure and metering of existing feeders/distribution transformers to improve the quality and reliability of power supply in rural areas.

How is the scheme implemented?

• Saubhagya envisioned providing energy access to all by last-mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining unelectrified households in rural as well as urban areas to achieve universal household electrification in the country.

• The electricity connection to households included the release of electricity connections by drawing a service cable from the nearest pole to the household premise, installation of an energy meter, wiring for a single light point with LED bulb, and a mobile charging point.

The key elements of the scheme are:

• No upfront fee for availing electricity connection: Absolutely free for economically poor households. For other households, Rs 500 to be charged after release of connection in 10 instalments to be adjusted in monthly electricity bills.

• Organisation of camps in villages/cluster of villages for on spot registration and release of connections.

• Use of mobile app for identification of beneficiaries and electronic registration including requisite documentation.

• Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) based standalone systems for households located in remote and inaccessible areas.

• Web-based near real time monitoring and updating of progress.

• Flexibility to States in mode of implementation (departmental/ turnkey/semi-turnkey).

Funding for the scheme

• The total financial implications of the project were Rs 16,320 crore while the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) was Rs 12,320 crore.

• The outlay for the rural households was Rs 14,025 crore while the GBS was Rs 10,587.50 crore. 

• For the urban households, the outlay stood at Rs 2,295 crore while GBS was Rs 1,732.50 crore. 

• The government of India largely provided funds for the scheme to all states/UTs.

• In order to ensure that no willing households left out without electricity connection, all states were requested to launch a special campaign to identify any left out un-electrified households and to provide electricity connections to such households. A dedicated toll free helpline 1800-121-5555 was also launched for the purpose of reporting any left out households.

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