Power Infra Improving, But Debt Is A Problem

Absence of electricity has been an inherent feature of rural India.

- Kuntala Sarkar

It has led to low infrastructure and poor communication services in rural India. However, according to government reports, the situation has improved in the last few years. Electricity production in India reached its highest level of 117047 GWh in May, 2019.

According to Government of India, power Ministry of Power, one lakh Mega Watt (MW) generation capacity has been added for expansion of the transmission grid by more than one lakh circuit kilometre (CKM) till date in 2019.

Government-owned power companies like National Thermal Power Corporation, Damodar Valley Corporation, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and Nuclear Power Corporation of India are contributing heavily in this expansion. The government is also looking to promote the usage of electric vehicles and the success of this move depends on a seamless power generation and distribution process.

Additionally, the government is looking to promote the usage of LED bulbs to cut down electricity consumption. The 2019 Budget referring to the UJALA Yojana proposed, “A programme of mass scaling up of LED bulbs for widespread distribution at the household level was taken up resulting in massive replacement of incandescent bulbs and CFLs. Approximately, 35 crore LED bulbs have been distributed under UJALA Yojana leading to cost saving of 18,341 crore annually.”

Growth in renewables