Patna: All the state’s 39,073 villages and 1,06,249 ‘tolas’ are now electrified.
Announcing this at an energy department’s function in Patna on Friday, CM
Nitish Kumar said now his government targeted to provide free electricity connections to the state’s all 26 lakh households by December-end.
Lauding the energy department for achieving the target of electrifying all ‘tolas’, the CM said the Centre’s ‘Saubhagya’ scheme was inspired by the Bihar model of “Har Ghar Bijali Lagataar’.
Nitish had launched the ‘Har Ghar Bijali Lagataar’ on November 15, 2016. “State energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav talked about it at a state energy ministers’ meet in Delhi. The then Union power minister, Piyush Goyal, appreciated our model and sent a team of officials from many states to study it,” Nitish said and added Goyal had then said the scheme should be implemented by all states.
Sources recalled the Saubhagya scheme was launched by PM Narendra Modi in September 2017, ten months after the launch of ‘Har Ghar Bijali Lagataar’ scheme.
“We have already provided free electricity connections to more than eight lakh households in the state. Another six lakh households will be benefited by June and the rest by December,” the CM said.
He said he was happy that the Centre adopted the state’s scheme. “Under the Saubhagya scheme, 60% of the cost is to be borne by the Centre. The money we will thus get from the Centre will be utilised on other power schemes,” he said.
The CM laid stones of and inaugurated different power schemes worth over Rs 3650.83 crore on the occasion. Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav also addressed the function.