Affordable, 24x7 electricity to all Indian households in 5 years: PM

The government aims at providing uninterrupted and affordable supply of electricity to all households in the country in the next five years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today.

He said one million households in India are now using decentralised solar energy to meet their lighting energy needs, adding that the government is also striving to light up around 20 million rural households with solar home lighting by 2022.

At present, he said, renewable power represents about 12 per cent of the total installed generating capacity in India and since renewable energy technologies provide the most sustainable and economic options for energy access, the government is aiming at optimal use of these resources.

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, launched under the aegis of the National Action Plan on Climate Change aims to install 20 Giga Watt of grid connected solar power by 2022, he pointed out.

The prime minister was inaugurating the `International Seminar on Energy Access' at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi today.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Farooq Abdullah, minister of new and renewable energy, said access to energy is crucial to inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Renewable energy can be an excellent tool in providing energy access. ''With over 400 million citizens who lack access to modern forms of energy, we have one of the largest decentralised, off-grid renewable energy programmes in the world,'' the minister said.