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Govt
plans to electrify all villages by 2012
Our
Economic Bureau
New Delhi, Dec 6: The government has set a target of
electrifying all villages, including those located in remote
areas, by 2012 at an estimated investment of Rs 10,000 crore.
At the third meeting of the group of ministers (GoM) on rural
electrification on Thursday, it was recommended that the Centre
should aim at connecting 62,000 villages by grid by the end
of the Tenth Plan (2007) and the remaining 18,000 villages
situated in remote areas by 2012.
According to Planning Commission deputy
chairman K C Pant, the 18,000 remote villages would be electrified
through non-conventional energy sources, as they cannot be
connected by grid. Power minister Suresh Prabhu also attended
the meeting.
An estimated Rs 4,600 crore would be required for villages
with grid connection and Rs 5,400 crore for remote villages.
The GoM suggested that the entire requirement for 100 per
cent village electrification, covering of unelectrified hamlets
and intensification of dalit bastis, should be covered by
the proposed Pradhan Mantri Gram Vidyut Yojana, which would
be a 100 per cent Centrally-sponsored Scheme (CSS) for the
10th as well as the 11th Plan.
It has also recommended pooling of funds from the minimum
needs programme component for rural electrification, the Rural
Electrification Corporation routed through the power ministry’s
Budget, Kutir Jyoti programme and funds allocated under the
Prime Minister Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) for rural electrification.
The GoM added that rural electrification should be included
under PMGY just like other programmes like drinking water,
rural housing, nutrition, primary education and health with
funding pattern of 90:10 for special category states and 30:70
for other states.
During the current year, 15 states have allocated more than
10 per cent of their PMGY funds for rural electrification.
Assam, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and UP have allocated 30 per cent,
24 per cent, 32.85 per cent and 25 per cent of the PMGY funds,
respectively, for the purpose.
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