India: Government to provide 24 hours electricity to all households in the country in the next 5 years
Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh today said the government aims to provide 24x7 electricity to all households in the country and affordable access to electricity in the next 5 years.
One million households in India are now using decentralized solar energy to meet their lighting energy needs, said the Prime Minister. Government is also striving to light up around 20 million rural households with solar home lighting by 2022. Renewable energy technologies provide probably the most sustainable and economic options for energy access. At present renewable power represents about 12 per cent of the total installed generating capacity in India. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, launched under the aegis of India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change aims to install 20 Gigawatt of grid connected solar power by 2022. The links between access to energy and the various Millennium Development Goals are now well established and they are well documented. Meeting these goals that are fundamental to an existence of minimum dignity and well being all over the world requires access to affordable energy. The Prime Minister said this while inaugurating “International Seminar on Energy Access” today at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.