DEENDAYAL UPADHYAYA GRAM JYOTI YOJANA (DDUGJY)

The new scheme of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), recently approved by the Union Government draws its inspiration from the similar pioneering scheme implemented by the Government of Gujarat. This scheme will enable to initiate much awaited reforms in the rural areas. It focuses on feeder separation (rural households & agricultural) and strengthening of sub-transmission & distribution infrastructure including metering at all levels in rural areas. This will help in providing round the clock power to rural households and adequate power to agricultural consumers .The earlier scheme for rural electrification viz. Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) has been subsumed in the new scheme as its rural electrification component.

The major components of the scheme are :

a) Separation of agriculture and non-agriculture feeders facilitating judicious rostering of supply to agricultural & non- agricultural consumers in the rural areas

b) trengthening and augmentation of sub-transmission & distribution (ST&D) infrastructure in rural areas, including metering at distribution transformers, feeders and consumers 

c) Rural electrification

Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) shall be the Nodal Agency for operationalization and implementation of the scheme under the overall guidance of MoP 

Budgetary Support:

The full scheme entails an investment of Rs 43,033 crore which includes the requirement of budgetary support of Rs. 33,453 crore from GOI over the entire implementation period. All Discoms including private Discoms and State Power Departments are eligible for financial assistance under this Scheme. Discoms will prioritize strengthening of rural infrastructure work considering specific network requirement and will formulate Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of the projects for coverage under the Scheme. Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) is the Nodal Agency for operationalization of this Scheme. It will furnish monthly progress reports on the implementation of the scheme indicating both financial and physical progress to Ministry of Power and Central Electricity Authority .

Funding Mechanism:

Grant portion of the Scheme is 60% for other than special category States (up to 75% on achievement of prescribed milestones) and 85% for special category States (up to 90% on achievement of prescribed milestones). The milestones for the additional grant are: timely completion of the scheme, reduction in AT&C losses as per trajectory and upfront release of subsidy by State govt. All North Eastern States including Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand are included in special category States.

The scheme would help in: 

(i) Improvement in hours of power supply in rural areas, 

(ii) Reduction in peak load, 

(iii) Improvement in billed energy based on metered consumption and 

(iv) Providing access to electricity to rural households.