Last month, Modi led Govt announced a massive campaign called #ILEDTHEWAY to popularize use of LED lighting throughout the country. The Government also went to an extent where they are offering 10 LED bulbs at much subsidized rates. By showing an ID proof, any any Indian citizen can get an LED for Rs 100 (which generally costs around Rs. 400).
Previously, these subsidized LEDs could be picked up from various Government outlets, including electricity board offices across various cities in India.
Now to push the last mile distribution even further, Government has taken ecommerce route. For this purpose, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), a special purpose vehicle formed by state-run companies under the power ministry have forged a partnership with Snapdeal. Now anyone can log on to Snapdeal website and purchase a maximum of 10 LED lights at a discounted rate of Rs. 99/-
This partnership will allow EESL to expand their LED bulb distribution reach to over 5000 cities and towns across India.
As per office DELP (Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme) website, close to 6 crore LED bulbs have been distributed by Government.
Here is what close to 6 Crore LEDs have achieved so far:
- 20 million kilo-watt hour of energy has been saved
- Rs 7.8 crore is saved per day from energy costs
- 1742 mega watt of power in peak hours have been avoided
- 16,177 tonnes of CO2 (carbon dioxide) has been reduced per day
These facts have been shared by the Ministry of Power on their official website. These stats get updated on daily basis.
As per the DELP website, Andhra Pradesh has taken the lead with over 1.61 crore LED bulbs distributed in that state alone. Maharashtra has managed to distribute over 84 Lakh bulbs followed by Rajasthan (75 Lakh) and Uttar Pradesh (74 Lakh).
Government wants to achieve some lofty targets with this campaign. They want to replace all 77 crore incandescent bulbs sold in India, which would result in reduction of 20,000 mw load and energy savings of 105 billion units every year. As LED bulbs are environment friendly, these bulbs will reduce greenhouse emissions equivalent to 80 million tonnes of CO2.
If the target is achieved, consumers across India would save Rs. 40,000 crore annually in electricity bills!
You can buy EESL subsidized LED bulbs on Snapdeal here.