Govt approves new Rs 43,033-crore rural electrification scheme

The government has approved rural electrification scheme Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, which would replace the existing Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) and would entail an investment of Rs 43,033 crore. The balance work relating of the ongoing scheme of RGGVY till 2022 will get subsumed in this scheme as a distinct component for rural electrification and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), for this purpose, has already approved the scheme cost of Rs 39,275 crore including budgetary support of Rs 35,447 crore. This outlay will be carried forward to the new scheme of DDUGJY in addition to the outlay of Rs 43,033 crore. The scheme is aimed at strengthening and augmentation of sub transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural areas, including metering of distribution transformers and feeders.  It would have components to separate agriculture and non-agriculture feeders facilitating judicious rostering of supply to agricultural and non-agricultural consumers in rural areas. The estimated cost of the scheme for two components of Rs 43,033 crore, includes the requirement of budgetary support of Rs 33,453 crore from the government over the entire implementation period. Further, the scheme is likely to work towards improvement in hours of power supply in rural areas, reduction in peak load and improvement in billed energy based on metered consumption and providing access to electricity to rural households.