Retail price of LED bulbs under govt’s UJALA scheme drops to Rs 65 from Rs 550

New Delhi: Retail price of 9 watt LED bulbs under the government’s UJALA programme has dropped to as low as Rs 65 per unit to encourage consumers to opt for these energy efficient lights. “The aggregation of demand and bulk procurement has resulted in reduction of 88 per cent in procurement prices of LED bulbs from Rs 310 per piece (in February 2015) to Rs 38 (in August 2016), which is passed on to consumers,” Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Retail price of LED bulbs reduced to Rs 65 from Rs 550 during the same period. State-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), the nodal agency for implementation of the UJALA scheme, aggregates the demand across country and procures LED bulbs in large quantity for distribution to consumers through state distribution companies or utilities.

According to a statement, as of November 20, 2016, 5.96 crore of dwelling units have been provided about 17.89 crore LED bulbs under the UJALA scheme. The government wants to replace all the 77 crore incandescent bulbs sold in India with LED bulbs under this scheme. This will result in reduction of 20,000 mw load, energy savings of 105 billion kwh and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions savings of 80 million tonnes every year.

The annual saving in electricity bills will be Rs 40,000 crore, considering an average tariff of Rs 4 per kwh.

Each LED bulb helps a consumer save anywhere between Rs 160 to Rs 400 every year and has a life expectancy of 25,000 hours, thus making the cost recovery less than a year.

For availing of the scheme, a customer needs to provide a copy of the latest electricity bill, along with a copy of ID proof, to discoms. The LED bulbs are also made available through other channels by EESL. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the scheme last year in January.

Source: The Indian Express

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