Lok Sabha Question No. 1648 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-28
Subject: Electricity Connection to Poor Household
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Dean Kuriakose, Thomas Chazhikadan, Bheemrao Baswanthrao Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1648 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.11.2019

## ELECTRICITY CONNECTION TO POOR HOUSEHOLD

1648. ADV. DEAN KURIAKOSE: SHRI THOMAS CHAZHIKADAN: SHRI B.B. PATIL:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Union Government has prepared any scheme with the State Governments to provide electricity connection to every poor household in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of such connections provided so far, State/UT- wise;
- (c) whether there  is  any  plan  to  route  subsidies  in  power  sector  through  Direct  Benefit Transfer (DBT) and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the steps taken to streamline the subsidies in power sector; and
- (e) whether a mechanism is needed to be put in place so that power from most efficient plants is utilized first to bring down electricity prices and if so, the guidelines issued in this regard?

## A N S W E R

THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  FOR  POWER,  NEW  &  RENEWABLE ENERGY AND THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

( SHRI  R.K. SINGH)

(a) & (b) : Yes,  Sir.    Government  of  India  launched  Pradhan    Mantri  Sahaj  Bijli  Har  Ghar Yojana-Saubhagya  in  October,  2017  to  achieve  universal  household electrification by providing  last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all households in rural and all poor households in urban areas across the country.   As informed by the States on Saubhagya portal,  2.628  crore  households  were  electrified  up  to  31.03.2019  across  the  country,  since launch of the scheme on 11.10.2017. State-wise detail is given at Annexure.

(c) & (d) : The  subsidies  to  specified  category  of  consumers  are  provided  by  the  State Governments.  The Electricity Act, 2003 provides in Section 65 that if the State Government proposes to grant subsidy to any class of consumers it shall make available funds for this in advance to the concerned distribution company.  The State Governments have been advised that  if  they  propose  to  give  subsidies  they  should  give  it  through  Direct  Benefit  Transfer (DBT).  The tariff policy also mandates that direct subsidy is a better way to subsidize poorer consumer rather than cross subsidy (Clause 8.3 Tariff Policy 2016).

Merit  order  dispatch  mechanism  has  been  put  in  place  in  the  country  for procurement  of  required  quantum  of  power  by  the  DISCOMs  at  optimal  cost.    Under  this mechanism, the power from most efficient plants with least variable cost are utilized first by

***********

- (e) : the DISCOMs.

ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1648 TO BE ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 28.11.2019.

***************

State-wise electrification of households as per Saubhagya portal during the period from 11.10.2017 to 31.03.2019.

| Sl. No.           | Name of the States   | Number of households electrified   |
|-------------------|----------------------|------------------------------------|
| 1                 | Andhra Pradesh       | 1,81,930                           |
| 2                 | Arunachal Pradesh    | 47,089                             |
| 3                 | Assam                | 17,45,149                          |
| 4                 | Bihar                | 32,59,041                          |
| 5                 | Chhattisgarh         | 7,49,397                           |
| 6 Gujarat         |                      | 41,317                             |
| 7                 | Haryana              | 54,681                             |
| 8 Himachal        | Pradesh              | 12,891                             |
| 9 Jammu & Kashmir |                      | 3,87,501                           |
| 10                | Jharkhand            | 15,30,708                          |
| 11                | Karnataka            | 3,56,974                           |
| 12                | Madhya Pradesh       | 19,84,264                          |
| 13                | Maharashtra          | 15,17,922                          |
| 14                | Manipur              | 1,02,748                           |
| 15                | Meghalaya            | 1,99,839                           |
| 16 Mizoram        | 27,970               |                                    |
| 17                | Nagaland             | 1,32,507                           |
| 18                | Odisha               | 24,52,444                          |
| 19                | Puducherry           | 912                                |
| 20                | Punjab               | 3,477                              |
| 21                | Rajasthan            | 18,62,736                          |
| 22                | Sikkim               | 14,900                             |
| 23                | Tamil Nadu           | 2,170                              |
| 24                | Telangana            | 5,15,084                           |
| 25                | Tripura              | 1,39,090                           |
| 26                | Uttar Pradesh        | 79,80,568                          |
| 27                | Uttarakhand          | 2,48,751                           |
| 28                | West Bengal          | 7,32,290                           |
| Total             |                      | 2,62,84,350                        |

****************