Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA)

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29-Mar-2022: Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA): Electrification of all un-electrified households in rural areas and all poor households in urban areas of the country

The Government of India launched Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – Saubhagya in October, 2017 with the objective to achieve universal household electrification by providing electricity connections to all un-electrified households in rural areas and all poor households in urban areas in the country. Under the scheme, as on 31.03.2019, all households were reported electrified by the States, except 18,734 households in Left Wing Extremist (LWE) affected areas of Chhattisgarh. Subsequently, seven States namely Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh reported that around 19.09 lakh un-electrified households, identified before 31.03.2019, which were unwilling earlier, have later on expressed willingness to get electricity connections.

In addition, Government of India have recently issued guidelines for electrification of any leftover un-electrified households identified before 31.03.2019 prior to Saubhagya for covering these under Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).

All the States and Union Territories (UTs) have signed MoUs with the Central Government to ensure 24x7 power supply to all households, industrial & commercial consumers and adequate supply of power to agricultural consumers w.e.f. 1st April, 2019 onwards.

24-Mar-2022: Status of implementation of SAUBHAGYA scheme

Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – Saubhagya in October, 2017 with the objective to achieve universal household electrification for providing electricity connections to all willing un-electrified households in rural areas and all willing poor households in urban areas in the country by March, 2019.  All households were reported electrified by the States, except 18,734 households in Left Wing Extremists (LWE) affected areas of Chhattisgarh as on 31.03.2019. Subsequently, seven States namely Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh had reported that around 19.09 lakh un-electrified households, identified before 31.03.2019, which were unwilling earlier but have expressed willingness to get electricity connection. All these seven States have reported 100% household’s electrification as on 31.03.2021. A total of 2.817 crore households have been electrified since the launch of Saubhagya, up to 31.03.2021. Further, 11.84 lakh households have been sanctioned under DDUGJY against which, 4.34 lakh households have been electrified. Accordingly, till date, a total 2.86 crore households have been electrified.

Adequate installed capacity exists in the country to meet the demand including for new household connections under SAUBHAGYA. The total installed capacity of the country stands at 395.6 GW as on 28.02.2022 with average peak demand of 203 GW. The following steps are taken to meet the future demand:

  1. Thermal Projects totaling to 28460 MW are under construction in the country.
  2. Presently, there are 36 Large Hydro Projects (above 25 MW) totaling to 12663.5 MW which are under implementation in the country. Out of which, 27 projects totaling to 11427.5 MW are under active construction.
  3. Nuclear projects amounting to 8700 MW capacity are under construction and 7000 MW nuclear power projects have been accorded Administrative Approval and Financial Sanction.

25-Sep-2021: SAUBHAGYA completes FOUR years of successful implementation

2.82 crore households have been electrified since the launch of SAUBHAGYA. These figures are till March 31st of this year.  As of march 2019, 2.63 crore willing un-electrified households in rural and urban areas of the country were provided electricity connections in a record time of 18 months. Subsequently seven states- Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh reported that around 18.85 lakh un-electrified households, identified before 31.03.2019, which were unwilling earlier, but later expressed their willingness to get electricity connections, were also covered under the scheme.

SAUBHAGYA is one of the largest household electrification drives in the world. SAUBHAGYA was announced by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 25th September 2017. The objective of the scheme was 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. While launching the scheme, the Prime Minister pledged to provide access to electricity and work towards equity, efficiency and sustainability in the New Age India.

The total financial implications of the project was 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.

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 was on strengthening & augmentation the existing infrastructure and metering of existing feeders/distribution transformers to improve the quality and reliability of power supply in rural areas.

Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana - Saubhagya envisioned providing energy access to all by last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrified 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 road ahead: While the set objectives of the scheme have been achieved, team SAUBHAGYA has continued its work of providing 24x7 quality power supply to all. All states have been requested to launch special campaigns in their respective states to identify any left out un-electrified household and subsequently provide electricity connections to them. A dedicated toll-free helpline has also been launched for that purpose.

29-Nov-2018: 8 States achieve 100% household electrification under Saubhagya

8 States have achieved 100% saturation in household electrification under Saubhagya namely Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Bihar, J&K, Mizoram, Sikkim, Telangana and West Bengal. Thus total 15 States in the country now have 100 % household electrification.

Saubhagya – ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’ was launched in September, 2017 with the objective to provide access to electricity to all the remaining households in the country. The Minister informed that as many as 2.1 crore connections have been released under Saubhagya so far.

Many more State like Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh etc. are left with small number of un-electrified households and expected to achieve saturation any time.. With the present pace of electrification, Nation is expected to achieve 100% saturation in the country by 31st December, 2018.

Achievement of 100% household electrification in the country would be a major milestone in the direction to achieve 24x7 power for all. The Government is committed to ensure 24x7 access to electricity for all by 31st March 2019.

In order to ensure that no un-electrified household is left in the States which have already achieved 100% household electrification, they have been requested to take up campaign to publicize the achievement all across the areas, so that anyone left out for any reasons may avail electricity connection under Saubhagya.

Award Scheme under Saubhagya: For creating healthy competition amongst various DISCOMs/Power Departments of States, an award scheme has been instituted with awards of more than Rs 300crore to be won by States/Discoms. The first DISCOM/Power Departments to complete 100% household electrification will be felicitated with cash award of Rs. 50 Lakh for the employees and Rs.100 crore grant to be spent for distribution infrastructure. For the purpose of award, States have been divided into 3 categories and award would be given in each of these categories.

The States completing 100% household electrification by 31st Dec. 2018 will also receive additional grant of 15% of the project cost (5% for special category States) sanctioned under Saubhagya.

Benefits to the Citizen: Electricity in households has brought new light in their lives. Electrification has direct positive impact on the quality of all aspects of daily life, especially to the women and children. With deeper penetration of electricity network, significant improvement is expected in delivery of other essential services like education, health, communication etc. and thereby more opportunities for economic activities leading to employment generation, increase in income and poverty alleviation.

15-Oct-2018: Shri RK Singh launches award scheme under 'Saubhagya'

Shri RK Singh, Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy announced an award scheme under Saubhagya here today to felicitate the DISCOMs / Power Department of the States and their employees for achieving 100 per cent household electrification in their area of operations. Awards would be provided for achieving 100 per cent household electrification at DISCOM/Power Department level of the States. Eight States which have already achieved more than 99 per cent household electrification prior to launch of Saubhagya (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu), are ineligible for participation under the award scheme. All the remaining States and their Discom are eligible for the award.

Award will be given in three categories, (i) DISCOMs / Power Departments of Special Category States (which includes seven North Eastern States, Sikkim, J&K and Uttarakhand); (ii) DISCOMs / Power Departments of other than Special Category States (which includes Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal)having more than 5 Lakh un-electrified households and (iii) DISCOMs / Power Departments of other than Special Category States having less than 5 Lakh un-electrified households.

There will be two quantum of award in each of the three categories. Under first quantum of award, the 1stDISCOM / Power Department to achieve 100per cent household electrification by30th November 2018 would be provided cash award of Rs. 50 Lakh. The Principal Secretary (Energy/Power) of the State will devise the mechanism to distribute this cash prize amongst employees of the concerned DISCOM / Power Department. From this amount, Rs. 20 Lakh will be given to the division of DISCOM/Power Department with highest number of households electrified. Certificate of appreciation would also be given to five officials of concerned DISCOM/Power Department of any level from managing Director to Lineman to be nominated by the Principal Secretary (Energy / Power) of the States. The second quantum of award includes cash award of Rs. 100 Crore as grant to the concerned DISCOM/Power Department to be spent in distribution infrastructure development in their area of operation. The Principal Secretary (Energy/Power) of the State will decide work to be executed from this amount.

Other DISCOM/Power Department of the States to achieve 100% household electrification by 31st December 2018 would also be provided certificate of appreciation for five officials of any level from managing Director to Lineman to be nominated by the Principal Secretary (Energy / Power) of the States.

Government of India launched ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’ (Saubhagya) in Sept. 2017 to achieve the goal of universal household electrification in the country by 31st March 2019. The scheme envisages to provide last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining households in rural as well as urban areas. With the support of State Power Departments and DISCOMs more than 1.65 Crore households have already been connected since the launch of scheme. All the States have shown confidence in achievement of the target much before the targeted timelines.

27-Mar-2018: Skill India joins hands with Ministry of Power to support household electrification scheme ‘Saubhagya’

Aiming to empower and uplift the rural youth and development, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship partnered today with the Ministry of Power to ensure access to electricity for every household in the country through an ambitious scheme, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA).  The scheme aims to achieve universal household electrification in all parts of the country at a cost of Rs 16,320 crore, including Gross Budgetary Support of Rs 12,320 crore from the government.

In order to successfully deliver a project of this magnitude, huge volume of skilled workforce would be required across different job roles to enable completion of various components of the work. To support the successful execution of the scheme, the vocational training program has been launched in Six States today namely Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. A total estimated number of participants to be trained between the two job roles of Lineman Distribution (Multiskilled) and Technical Helper is 47000 in these six focus states and more than 55000 across the country.

As the scheme is to be implemented across the country with 200 districts as major focus area, the skilling initiatives are proposed to be delivered in a decentralized mode at district level. The training infrastructures available with ITI’s at district level as well as the infrastructures available with the State Power Distribution Utilities will be utilized for skill training of the candidates ensuring successful implementation of the scheme.

With our Skill India program supporting Ministry of Power and the contribution being made from REC, NSDC and the respective State Governments, this is yet another milestone reflecting how a joint organized mechanism is institutionalized to ensure efficient delivery of projects and schemes.

Saubhagya is a scheme with estimated expenditure of 16000 crore our of which 25% is estimated cost against wages and margin for human resource being deployed for the project. This is a big employment opportunity for skilled workforce and Govt. will work jointly with Ministry of Power across the nation to ensure that we avail this opportunity for our youth and help them better their livelihood.

Government’s aggressive village electrification programme like Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana, launched in July 2015 and Saubhagya are assisting in electrification.

The scheme is undertaken as a special project under the government’s Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).  Around 47,000 Distribution Lineman-Multi Skills and 8,500 Technical Helper will be skill trained to meet the requirement. The workforce already engaged by contractors implementing this project will be considered first for the skill development programmes. Incase if any shortfalls arise, these will be met by ITI Electrician trade pass-outs from the local ITIs. Total 48 hours of training (12 hours Orientation + 36 hours Bridge course) will be provided to the existing workforce of the contractors and 120 hours of training will be provided to the fresh and ITI (Electrician Trade) pass-outs.

Saubhagya is more than a mission to provide electricity to the entire nation and ensure energy security. Since Saubhagya offers many collateral benefits, which includes creating employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for the rural youth, it will end up in bringing new hope and happiness into their lives.

Pin It
Whatsapp

29-Mar-2022: Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA): Electrification of all un-electrified households in rural areas and all poor households in urban areas of the country

The Government of India launched Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – Saubhagya in October, 2017 with the objective to achieve universal household electrification by providing electricity connections to all un-electrified households in rural areas and all poor households in urban areas in the country. Under the scheme, as on 31.03.2019, all households were reported electrified by the States, except 18,734 households in Left Wing Extremist (LWE) affected areas of Chhattisgarh. Subsequently, seven States namely Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh reported that around 19.09 lakh un-electrified households, identified before 31.03.2019, which were unwilling earlier, have later on expressed willingness to get electricity connections.

In addition, Government of India have recently issued guidelines for electrification of any leftover un-electrified households identified before 31.03.2019 prior to Saubhagya for covering these under Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).

All the States and Union Territories (UTs) have signed MoUs with the Central Government to ensure 24x7 power supply to all households, industrial & commercial consumers and adequate supply of power to agricultural consumers w.e.f. 1st April, 2019 onwards.

24-Mar-2022: Status of implementation of SAUBHAGYA scheme

Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – Saubhagya in October, 2017 with the objective to achieve universal household electrification for providing electricity connections to all willing un-electrified households in rural areas and all willing poor households in urban areas in the country by March, 2019.  All households were reported electrified by the States, except 18,734 households in Left Wing Extremists (LWE) affected areas of Chhattisgarh as on 31.03.2019. Subsequently, seven States namely Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh had reported that around 19.09 lakh un-electrified households, identified before 31.03.2019, which were unwilling earlier but have expressed willingness to get electricity connection. All these seven States have reported 100% household’s electrification as on 31.03.2021. A total of 2.817 crore households have been electrified since the launch of Saubhagya, up to 31.03.2021. Further, 11.84 lakh households have been sanctioned under DDUGJY against which, 4.34 lakh households have been electrified. Accordingly, till date, a total 2.86 crore households have been electrified.

Adequate installed capacity exists in the country to meet the demand including for new household connections under SAUBHAGYA. The total installed capacity of the country stands at 395.6 GW as on 28.02.2022 with average peak demand of 203 GW. The following steps are taken to meet the future demand:

  1. Thermal Projects totaling to 28460 MW are under construction in the country.
  2. Presently, there are 36 Large Hydro Projects (above 25 MW) totaling to 12663.5 MW which are under implementation in the country. Out of which, 27 projects totaling to 11427.5 MW are under active construction.
  3. Nuclear projects amounting to 8700 MW capacity are under construction and 7000 MW nuclear power projects have been accorded Administrative Approval and Financial Sanction.

25-Sep-2021: SAUBHAGYA completes FOUR years of successful implementation

2.82 crore households have been electrified since the launch of SAUBHAGYA. These figures are till March 31st of this year.  As of march 2019, 2.63 crore willing un-electrified households in rural and urban areas of the country were provided electricity connections in a record time of 18 months. Subsequently seven states- Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh reported that around 18.85 lakh un-electrified households, identified before 31.03.2019, which were unwilling earlier, but later expressed their willingness to get electricity connections, were also covered under the scheme.

SAUBHAGYA is one of the largest household electrification drives in the world. SAUBHAGYA was announced by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 25th September 2017. The objective of the scheme was 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. While launching the scheme, the Prime Minister pledged to provide access to electricity and work towards equity, efficiency and sustainability in the New Age India.

The total financial implications of the project was 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.

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 was on strengthening & augmentation the existing infrastructure and metering of existing feeders/distribution transformers to improve the quality and reliability of power supply in rural areas.

Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana - Saubhagya envisioned providing energy access to all by last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrified 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 road ahead: While the set objectives of the scheme have been achieved, team SAUBHAGYA has continued its work of providing 24x7 quality power supply to all. All states have been requested to launch special campaigns in their respective states to identify any left out un-electrified household and subsequently provide electricity connections to them. A dedicated toll-free helpline has also been launched for that purpose.

29-Nov-2018: 8 States achieve 100% household electrification under Saubhagya

8 States have achieved 100% saturation in household electrification under Saubhagya namely Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Bihar, J&K, Mizoram, Sikkim, Telangana and West Bengal. Thus total 15 States in the country now have 100 % household electrification.

Saubhagya – ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’ was launched in September, 2017 with the objective to provide access to electricity to all the remaining households in the country. The Minister informed that as many as 2.1 crore connections have been released under Saubhagya so far.

Many more State like Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh etc. are left with small number of un-electrified households and expected to achieve saturation any time.. With the present pace of electrification, Nation is expected to achieve 100% saturation in the country by 31st December, 2018.

Achievement of 100% household electrification in the country would be a major milestone in the direction to achieve 24x7 power for all. The Government is committed to ensure 24x7 access to electricity for all by 31st March 2019.

In order to ensure that no un-electrified household is left in the States which have already achieved 100% household electrification, they have been requested to take up campaign to publicize the achievement all across the areas, so that anyone left out for any reasons may avail electricity connection under Saubhagya.

Award Scheme under Saubhagya: For creating healthy competition amongst various DISCOMs/Power Departments of States, an award scheme has been instituted with awards of more than Rs 300crore to be won by States/Discoms. The first DISCOM/Power Departments to complete 100% household electrification will be felicitated with cash award of Rs. 50 Lakh for the employees and Rs.100 crore grant to be spent for distribution infrastructure. For the purpose of award, States have been divided into 3 categories and award would be given in each of these categories.

The States completing 100% household electrification by 31st Dec. 2018 will also receive additional grant of 15% of the project cost (5% for special category States) sanctioned under Saubhagya.

Benefits to the Citizen: Electricity in households has brought new light in their lives. Electrification has direct positive impact on the quality of all aspects of daily life, especially to the women and children. With deeper penetration of electricity network, significant improvement is expected in delivery of other essential services like education, health, communication etc. and thereby more opportunities for economic activities leading to employment generation, increase in income and poverty alleviation.

15-Oct-2018: Shri RK Singh launches award scheme under 'Saubhagya'

Shri RK Singh, Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy announced an award scheme under Saubhagya here today to felicitate the DISCOMs / Power Department of the States and their employees for achieving 100 per cent household electrification in their area of operations. Awards would be provided for achieving 100 per cent household electrification at DISCOM/Power Department level of the States. Eight States which have already achieved more than 99 per cent household electrification prior to launch of Saubhagya (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu), are ineligible for participation under the award scheme. All the remaining States and their Discom are eligible for the award.

Award will be given in three categories, (i) DISCOMs / Power Departments of Special Category States (which includes seven North Eastern States, Sikkim, J&K and Uttarakhand); (ii) DISCOMs / Power Departments of other than Special Category States (which includes Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal)having more than 5 Lakh un-electrified households and (iii) DISCOMs / Power Departments of other than Special Category States having less than 5 Lakh un-electrified households.

There will be two quantum of award in each of the three categories. Under first quantum of award, the 1stDISCOM / Power Department to achieve 100per cent household electrification by30th November 2018 would be provided cash award of Rs. 50 Lakh. The Principal Secretary (Energy/Power) of the State will devise the mechanism to distribute this cash prize amongst employees of the concerned DISCOM / Power Department. From this amount, Rs. 20 Lakh will be given to the division of DISCOM/Power Department with highest number of households electrified. Certificate of appreciation would also be given to five officials of concerned DISCOM/Power Department of any level from managing Director to Lineman to be nominated by the Principal Secretary (Energy / Power) of the States. The second quantum of award includes cash award of Rs. 100 Crore as grant to the concerned DISCOM/Power Department to be spent in distribution infrastructure development in their area of operation. The Principal Secretary (Energy/Power) of the State will decide work to be executed from this amount.

Other DISCOM/Power Department of the States to achieve 100% household electrification by 31st December 2018 would also be provided certificate of appreciation for five officials of any level from managing Director to Lineman to be nominated by the Principal Secretary (Energy / Power) of the States.

Government of India launched ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’ (Saubhagya) in Sept. 2017 to achieve the goal of universal household electrification in the country by 31st March 2019. The scheme envisages to provide last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining households in rural as well as urban areas. With the support of State Power Departments and DISCOMs more than 1.65 Crore households have already been connected since the launch of scheme. All the States have shown confidence in achievement of the target much before the targeted timelines.

27-Mar-2018: Skill India joins hands with Ministry of Power to support household electrification scheme ‘Saubhagya’

Aiming to empower and uplift the rural youth and development, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship partnered today with the Ministry of Power to ensure access to electricity for every household in the country through an ambitious scheme, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA).  The scheme aims to achieve universal household electrification in all parts of the country at a cost of Rs 16,320 crore, including Gross Budgetary Support of Rs 12,320 crore from the government.

In order to successfully deliver a project of this magnitude, huge volume of skilled workforce would be required across different job roles to enable completion of various components of the work. To support the successful execution of the scheme, the vocational training program has been launched in Six States today namely Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. A total estimated number of participants to be trained between the two job roles of Lineman Distribution (Multiskilled) and Technical Helper is 47000 in these six focus states and more than 55000 across the country.

As the scheme is to be implemented across the country with 200 districts as major focus area, the skilling initiatives are proposed to be delivered in a decentralized mode at district level. The training infrastructures available with ITI’s at district level as well as the infrastructures available with the State Power Distribution Utilities will be utilized for skill training of the candidates ensuring successful implementation of the scheme.

With our Skill India program supporting Ministry of Power and the contribution being made from REC, NSDC and the respective State Governments, this is yet another milestone reflecting how a joint organized mechanism is institutionalized to ensure efficient delivery of projects and schemes.

Saubhagya is a scheme with estimated expenditure of 16000 crore our of which 25% is estimated cost against wages and margin for human resource being deployed for the project. This is a big employment opportunity for skilled workforce and Govt. will work jointly with Ministry of Power across the nation to ensure that we avail this opportunity for our youth and help them better their livelihood.

Government’s aggressive village electrification programme like Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana, launched in July 2015 and Saubhagya are assisting in electrification.

The scheme is undertaken as a special project under the government’s Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).  Around 47,000 Distribution Lineman-Multi Skills and 8,500 Technical Helper will be skill trained to meet the requirement. The workforce already engaged by contractors implementing this project will be considered first for the skill development programmes. Incase if any shortfalls arise, these will be met by ITI Electrician trade pass-outs from the local ITIs. Total 48 hours of training (12 hours Orientation + 36 hours Bridge course) will be provided to the existing workforce of the contractors and 120 hours of training will be provided to the fresh and ITI (Electrician Trade) pass-outs.

Saubhagya is more than a mission to provide electricity to the entire nation and ensure energy security. Since Saubhagya offers many collateral benefits, which includes creating employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for the rural youth, it will end up in bringing new hope and happiness into their lives.

2017

28-Nov-2017: SAUBHAGYA Scheme launched in Manipur

The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) was launched in Manipur. A total of approximately 1.75 lakh households (1.62 lakh rural households and 0.13 lakh urban households) of Manipur are proposed to be included under the Scheme.

Manipur is the fastest reforming state in Power sector in the country and the Manipur Government is performing well in terms of power sector in the State.

Union Minister assured that the Government of India would provide the required financial assistance for strengthening and improvement of infrastructure in the power sector in Manipur. Monetary assistance had already been extended for procuring of transformers, meters etc. to strengthen the power sector in the State.

Saubhagya is a scheme launched to achieve universal household electrification in all parts of the Country at a cost of Rs. 16,320 crore including Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of Rs. 12,320 crores from Government of India. Keeping in view the role of electricity in human and socio-economic development, Government of India has formulated the scheme to ensure last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrified urban and rural households in the country. All States and Union Territories of the country are required to complete household electrification in their respective jurisdiction by 31st March, 2019.

Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC), a Navaratna CPSE under the Ministry of Power has been appointed as the nodal agency for coordinating the implementation of the scheme. The prospective beneficiary households for free electricity connections under the scheme will be identified using Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011 data.

25-Sep-2017: PM launches Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana “Saubhagya”

The Prime Minister has launched a new scheme Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana –“Saubhagya” to ensure electrification of all willing households in the country in rural as well as urban areas.

The total outlay of the project is Rs. 16, 320 crore while the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) is Rs. 12,320 crore. The outlay for the rural households is Rs. 14,025 crore while the GBS is Rs. 10,587.50 crore. For the urban households the outlay is Rs. 2,295 crore while GBS is Rs. 1,732.50 crore. The Government of India will provide largely funds for the Scheme to all States/UTs.

The States and Union Territories are required to complete the works of household electrification by the 31st of December 2018.

The beneficiaries for free electricity connections would be identified using Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data. However, un-electrified households not covered under the SECC data would also be provided electricity connections under the scheme on payment of Rs. 500 which shall be recovered by DISCOMs in 10 instalments through electricity bill.

The solar power packs of 200 to 300 Wp with battery bank for un-electrified households located in remote and inaccessible areas, comprises of Five LED lights, One DC fan, One DC power plug. It also includes the Repair and Maintenance (R&M) for 5 years.

The expected outcome of the Scheme is as follows:

(a)    Environmental upgradation by substitution of Kerosene for lighting purposes

(b)   Improvement education services

(c)    Better health services

(d)   Enhanced connectivity through radio, television, mobiles, etc.

(e)    Increased economic activities and jobs

(f)    Improved quality of life especially for women

For easy & accelerated implementation of the Scheme , modern technology shall be used for household survey by using Mobile App. Beneficiaries shall be identified and their application for electricity connection along with applicant photograph and identity proof shall be registered on spot. The Gram Panchayat/Public institutions in the rural areas may be authorised to collect application forms along with complete documentation, distribute bills and collect revenue in consultation with the Panchayat Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies. The Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) will remain the nodal agency for the operationalisation of the scheme throughout the country.