Lok Sabha Question No. 48 (STARRED), answered on 2024-11-28
Subject: Households Electrified under Saubhagya
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Shri Mohite Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsinh, Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad

THE MINISTER OF POWER

(SHRI MANOHAR LAL)

(a) to (g) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.48 ANSWERED ON 28.11.2024

## HOUSEHOLDS ELECTRIFIED UNDER SAUBHAGYA

- *48. SHRI MOHITE PATIL DHAIRYASHEEL RAJSINH: PROF. VARSHA EKNATH GAIKWAD:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  total  number  of  willing  un-electrified  households  in  rural areas and all willing poor households in urban areas that were electrified under Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) in the country including State of Maharashtra during the last five years and the current year;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  launched  Revamped  Distribution  Sector Scheme  (RDSS)  and  if  so,  the  details  of  the  primary  objectives  of  RDSS  and measures/steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to improve power distribution sector;
- (c) the manner in which the said scheme aligns with India's vision of providing reliable, affordable and quality power to all citizens;
- (d) the details of the specific targets set to reduce losses in the distribution sector  through  the  said  scheme  and  strategy  adopted  by  the  Government  to achieve these targets;
- (e) the  current  status  of  the  implementation  of  RDSS  and  number  of  States adopted the said scheme;
- (f) the total funds allocated under the said scheme and the manner in which funding is being distributed among participating States; and
- (g) the manner in which the said scheme benefitted the consumers in terms of reducing power outages and improving the reliability of electricity supply?

## A N S W E R

## STATEMENT

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (g) IN RESPECT OF LOK SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.48  FOR  REPLY  ON  28.11.2024  REGARDING HOUSEHOLDS  ELECTRIFIED  UNDER  SAUBHAGYA  ASKED  BY  SHRI  MOHITE PATIL DHAIRYASHEEL RAJSINH AND PROF. VARSHA EKNATH GAIKWAD.

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- (a) : 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  unelectrified  households  in  rural  areas  and  all  willing  poor  households  in  urban areas in the country.

As  reported  by  the  States,  around  2.86  crore  households  have  been electrified since the launch of SAUBHAGYA, up to 31.03.2022. For the State of Maharashtra,  a  total  5,89,242  households  were  electrified  which  included 5,42,914 and 15,790 number of households through grid in Rural and Urban areas respectively  and  30,538  households  in  rural  areas  through  off-grid  mode.  All sanctioned works have been completed under SAUBHAGYA and scheme stands closed as on 31.03.2022.  Further, under Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), electrification works for 9,036 households have been sanctioned for the State of Maharashtra under PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan) and DA-JGUA (Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan).

- (b) to (g) : RDSS was launched by the Government of India, in July 2021.  The main objective of the scheme is to support Distribution utilities i.e. DISCOMs/Power Departments (PDs) to improve the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of distribution sector so as to provide quality and reliable supply of power. The scheme envisages reducing the Aggregate Technical and Commercial  (AT&C)  Losses  to  12-15%  at  pan-India  level  and  Gap  between Average Cost of Supply and Average Revenue Realised (ACS-ARR Gap) to Zero by 2024-25.

Total outlay of RDSS is Rs 3,03,758 Cr including Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of Rs. 97,631 Cr. The scheme duration is for 5 years (i.e. FY 2021-22 to   FY 2025-26). 48 DISCOMs across 30 States/ UTs have participated under RDSS.

AT&C  Losses  and  ACS-ARR  Gap  for  a  utility  are  the  key  financial  and operational indicators of its performance. Losses directly impact the cash flow and  affects  their  financial  position  thereby  forcing  them  to  supply  costly electricity to consumers. Reduction in AT&C losses and ACS-ARR Gap improves the  finances  of  these  utilities,  which  will  enable  them  to  better  maintain  the system and buy power as per requirements; benefitting the consumers.

..........2.

To  address  these  losses,  mandatory  pre-qualifying  criteria  have  been prescribed under the scheme which includes timely publishing of audited annual accounts  &  quarterly  accounts,  timely  release  of  subsidy  and  Government department dues by States/UTs, no new creation of regulatory assets, pre-paid metering  in  Government  establishments,  timely  payment  of  GENCO  dues  and timely publishing of tariff & true up orders. Based on performance of the utility against  parameters  mentioned  under  Result  Evaluation  Matrix,  which  include achievement against major financial & operational parameters, they are evaluated. Thus, assistance has been linked to performance.

Further,  projects  worth  Rs.  2.77  lakh  crore  have  been  sanctioned  under RDSS for loss reduction and smart metering works (State-wise details placed at Annexure). Sanctioned infrastructure works are at various stages of implementation and physical progress of ~17% has been achieved till date.

DPRs for the proposed works are submitted by the utilities, keeping in view the specific issues faced by them, with the approval of the State Cabinet after recommendation  of  the  Distribution  Reforms  Committee  (DRC)  which  are subsequently approved, as per scheme guidelines, by the Monitoring Committee constituted under RDSS.  The maximum financial assistance for loss reduction works  given  to  utility  is  60%  of  the  approved  project  cost,  while  for  special category  States  it  is  limited  to  90%.  Further,  grant  is  also  provided  for  Smart Metering  works,  as  per  the  scheme  guidelines,  based  on  number  of  feeders, distribution transformers and consumers proposed to be metered.

In addition to above, other initiatives taken to improve power distribution sector include Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and Related Matters) Rules 2022,  Rules  for  implementation  of  Fuel  and  Power  Purchase  Cost  adjustment (FPPCA) and Cost reflective tariff so as to ensure that all prudent cost for supply of electricity are passed through, Additional Borrowing space of 0.5% of GSDP to the  States  linked  to  power  sector  reforms,  Additional  Prudential  Norms  for lending by Power Finance Corporation (PFC) Limited and REC Limited based on the performance of the utilities etc.

As a result of reform measures undertaken, the AT&C loss of distribution utilities at the national level has reduced from 25.5% in FY 2013 to 15.37% in FY 2023  and  the  ACS-ARR  gap  has  reduced  from  Rs.  0.84/kWh  in  FY  2013  to Rs.0.45/kWh in FY 2023. Further, the hours of supply for rural areas has improved from 12.5 hrs in FY 2014 to 21.9 hrs in FY 2024. Similarly, for urban areas it has improved from 22.1 hrs in FY 2014 to 23.4 hrs in FY 2024.

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ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  PARTS  (b)  TO  (g)  OF  THE  STATEMENT  LAID  IN REPLY  TO  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  48  ANSWERED  IN  THE  LOK  SABHA  ON 28.11.2024 REGARDING HOUSEHOLDS ELECTRIFIED UNDER SAUBHAGYA

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## State-wise cost of projects sanctioned under RDSS

| State/Discoms             | Sanctioned cost of metering (Rs. Cr.)   | Sanctioned Cost of Loss Reduction (Rs. Cr.)   | Sanctioned total Outlay (Rs. Cr.)   | Sanctioned GBS of Metering Works (Rs. Cr.)   | Sanctioned GBS Loss Reduction (Rs. Cr.)   | Total GBS in Rs Cr.   |
|---------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------|
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 54                                      | 462                                           | 516                                 | 12                                           | 416                                       | 428                   |
| Andhra Pradesh            | 4,128                                   | 10,687                                        | 14,814                              | 815                                          | 6,412                                     | 7,227                 |
| Arunachal Pradesh         | 184                                     | 1,034                                         | 1,217                               | 54                                           | 930                                       | 985                   |
| Assam                     | 4,050                                   | 3,395                                         | 7,444                               | 1,052                                        | 3,055                                     | 4,107                 |
| Bihar                     | 2,021                                   | 7,320                                         | 9,341                               | 412                                          | 4,392                                     | 4,804                 |
| Chhattisgarh              | 4,105                                   | 3,964                                         | 8,070                               | 804                                          | 2,379                                     | 3,183                 |
| Delhi                     | 13                                      | 324                                           | 337                                 | 2                                            | 194                                       | 196                   |
| Goa                       | 469                                     | 247                                           | 716                                 | 95                                           | 148                                       | 243                   |
| Gujarat                   | 10,642                                  | 6,089                                         | 16,731                              | 1,885                                        | 3,653                                     | 5,538                 |
| Haryana                   | 0                                       | 6,797                                         | 6,797                               | 0                                            | 4,078                                     | 4,078                 |
| Himachal Pradesh          | 1,788                                   | 2,327                                         | 4,115                               | 466                                          | 2,094                                     | 2,560                 |
| Jammu & Kashmir           | 1,064                                   | 4,771                                         | 5,835                               | 272                                          | 4,294                                     | 4,566                 |
| Jharkhand                 | 858                                     | 3,344                                         | 4,202                               | 191                                          | 2,006                                     | 2,197                 |
| Karnataka                 | -                                       | 4                                             | 4                                   |                                              | 2                                         | 2                     |
| Kerala                    | 8,231                                   | 3,011                                         | 11,243                              | 1,413                                        | 1,807                                     | 3,220                 |
| Ladakh                    | -                                       | 876                                           | 876                                 |                                              | 788                                       | 788                   |
| Madhya Pradesh            | 8,911                                   | 9,516                                         | 18,426                              | 1,504                                        | 5,709                                     | 7,213                 |
| Maharashtra               | 15,215                                  | 17,209                                        | 32,424                              | 2,840                                        | 10,326                                    | 13,165                |
| Manipur                   | 121                                     | 615                                           | 737                                 | 38                                           | 554                                       | 592                   |
| Meghalaya                 | 310                                     | 1,232                                         | 1,542                               | 86                                           | 1,109                                     | 1,195                 |
| Mizoram                   | 182                                     | 319                                           | 500                                 | 61 60                                        | 287 415                                   | 348                   |
| Nagaland                  | 208                                     | 461                                           | 668                                 |                                              |                                           | 474                   |
| Puducherry                | 251                                     | 84                                            | 335                                 | 56                                           | 51                                        | 107                   |
| Punjab                    | 5,769                                   | 3,873                                         | 9,642                               | 960                                          | 2,324                                     | 3,284                 |
| Rajasthan                 | 9,715                                   | 17,427                                        | 27,142                              | 1,686                                        | 10,456                                    | 12,142                |
| Sikkim                    | 97                                      | 416                                           | 514                                 | 30                                           | 375                                       | 405                   |
| Tamil Nadu                | 19,235                                  | 9,568                                         | 28,803                              | 3,398                                        | 5,741                                     | 9,139                 |
| Telangana                 | -                                       | 7                                             | 7                                   |                                              | 4                                         | 4                     |
| Tripura                   | 319                                     | 555                                           | 874                                 | 80                                           | 500                                       | 580                   |
| Uttar Pradesh             | 18,956                                  | 21,612                                        | 40,568                              | 3,501                                        | 12,967                                    | 16,468                |
| Uttarakhand               | 1,106                                   | 1,697                                         | 2,803                               | 310                                          | 1,527                                     | 1,837                 |
| West Bengal               | 12,670                                  | 7,223                                         | 19,893                              | 2,089                                        | 4,334                                     | 6,423                 |
| Grand Total               | 1,30,671                                | 1,46,465                                      | 2,77,136                            | 24,173                                       | 93,327                                    | 1,17,500              |

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