ELECTRIFICATION OF VILLAGES THROUGH RENEWABLE
ENERGY SOURCES
RAJYA SABHA
There are about 80,000
unelectrified villages in the country. Out of these about 18,000
villages are believed to be in remote and difficult areas which
cannot be electrified through extension of the conventional grid.
The Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources proposes to electrify
all these villages through renewable energy sources by the year
2012. The Ministry accordingly initiated a new programme for village
electrification in the year 2012. The Ministry accordingly initiated
a new programme for village electrification in the year 2001-02.
A target for electrifying 5,000 such villages has been fixed for
the Tenth Plan period.
Renewable energy
systems like solar photovoltaic systems and power plants, small
hydro units and biomass gasifiers, which use the locally available
renewable energy sources, are the most suitable options for electrification
of remote villages and hamlets. Such systems have already been
developed indigenously and are being deployed in these villages
and hamlets under the Ministry’s programme. An expenditure of
about Rs.20 crore has been incurred by the Ministry on this programme
during 2001-02. An amount of Rs.75 crore has been provided for
this in the budget for 2002-03.
This information
was given by the Minister of State for Non-Conventional energy
Sources, Shri M. Kannappan in a written reply to a question by
Smt. N.P.Durga, in the Rajya Sabha today.
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