1.5 crore LED bulbs to be sold at Rs 10 each under GRAM UJALA SCHEME

New Delhi/Patna: Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), a subsidiary of the Energy Efficient Services Limited (EESL), announced today that it will distribute 1.5 crore high quality LED bulbs to people in rural areas in India at an affordable cost of Rs 10.
This initiative is a part of the central government’s Gram Ujwala scheme, which aims to provide village households high quality and clean lighting. The programme was launched in Aarah, Bihar, in the presence of the minister of state for power & new and renewable energy R K Singh.
The beneficiaries in the first phase of this programme are going to be the people of Aarah in Bihar, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, Nagpur in Maharashtra and a village in Northern Gujarat. This is the first Indian programme that will be financed entirely using carbon credits.
The GRAM Ujala scheme would have a significant effect on India’s climate change, with energy savings of 2025 million kWh/year and CO2 reductions of 1.65 million T CO2/year. The programme will also improve the people’s standard of living by providing LED bulbs at an affordable price of Rs. 10, said CESL in a statement.
Under this programme, rural consumers can exchange working incandescent bulbs with 7 and 12-Watt LED bulbs. These new bulbs will have a warranty period of three years. The consumers can exchange a maximum of five bulbs and will also have meters installed in their homes to account for and monitor the bulb usage.   Furthermore, the carbon credit documentation will be sent to UN-accredited validators to be included in the Shine Program of Activities. Carbon credits will be prepared under the ‘Shine’ programme.