The Promise of Electrifying All Indian Homes

In April 2018, Prime Minister Modi announced that all Indian villages had access to electricity. As his first term comes to an end, his campaign promise to provide a reliable electric connection in almost 40 million homes will seemingly be kept – largely because that number has been trimmed to 30 million.

The Rural Electrification Corporation Limited recently released a report that reduced the number of homes by 10 million after field surveys showed that large families had moved from villages to urban areas. The other reason for the decreased targets was the grouping of multiple families into one household.

The latest public records show that nearly 72 percent of homes have received electric connections. Edelweiss Research projects 94 percent of all villages will have access to power by 2019. A population with full access to power will be a significant step, but the greater test will be ensuring that it is reliable and affordable – something that urban areas still struggle with. This remains to be seen, especially as the general elections edge closer.