Saubhagya rollout may pose challenge: Ex-cabinet secy

NEW DELHI: Regular metering, billing and collection from power consumers besides the stringent timeline will be the biggest challenge in implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana ( Saubhagya), sectoral experts said.

Former cabinet secretary and member (energy) of the erstwhile Planning Commission BK Chaturvedi said the scheme will require the infrastructure and financial support of the states.

“Going by the conservative figure of 20 crore unelectrified people, the budget of the scheme isn’t adequate. If the distribution companies are not very enthusiastic to venture into the not-so-profit making areas, implementation will be a challenge, particularly by 2019. Similarly, governance will be a major issue. Timely billing, collection is important to sustain the scheme. The staff support requirement for such a large project is anybody’s guess,” he said.

The Rs 16,320-crore Saubhagya scheme envisages providing energy access to all by December 2018. The scheme for universal household electrification will cover a total of 300 lakh households – 250 lakh households in rural areas and 50 lakh in urban areas.

Defaulting households whose electricity connections have been disconnected will not be covered under the new scheme. Kameswara Rao, Leader - Energy, Utilities and Mining, PwC India, said the government has subsidised the cost of last-mile connection which should improve adoption rate of power connections.“ However, implementation capacity at the local level for enrolling new consumers will be a challenge. The government has to develop standard processes to drive this,” he said.