IEA Partnered with India on LED Programme

•  International Energy Agency is partnering with India to promote its LED programme on global level.
• India, through its company Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), has performed exceedingly well in terms of vastly improving access to LED lighting while reducing their cost drastically.
• The price at which EESL has been purchasing LED lights to distribute under the government’s Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (Ujala) scheme has been consistently falling over the last couple of years. The company purchased LEDs at Rs.310 per piece in 2014, and the price fell to Rs.55 as of March 2016.
• Along with this, production has also been ramped up to about four crore per month from the 10 lakh a month that were produced two years ago. LED lights consumes 80 per cent less electricity than incandescent bulbs.

About UJALA scheme:
Objectives

• The main objective is to promote efficient lighting, enhance awareness on using efficient equipment which reduce electricity bills and help preserve environment.

Overall targets

• Overall target of number of incandescent bulbs to be replaced : 200 million
• Expected overall annual energy savings : 10.5 billion KWh
• Expected reduction of load : 5000 MW
• Expected annual cost reduction of consumer bills : Rs. 40,000 crore
• Annual estimated greenhouse gas emission reductions : 79 million tonnes of CO2

Implementation agencies

• The Electricity Distribution Company and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) a public sector body of Government of India are implementing the programme.

Eligibility of acquiring LED bulbs

• Every grid-connected consumer having a metered connection from their respective Electricity Distribution Company can get the LED bulbs at about 40% of the market price under the UJALA Scheme. Consumers also have the option of paying for the LEDs in equated monthly instalments.

Registering complaints

• Complaints during distribution can be addressed at the distribution agency’s customer care center number which is publicized in the advertisements and awareness drives. EESL has ensured that a toll-free helpline number, corresponding to the manufacturer, is printed on the UJALA LED bulb box as well as the consent deed (payment receipt). Once the duration of the distribution is over the consumers can contact the respective manufacturer via these helpline numbers and seek replacement of the bulb. The respective manufacturer will guide the consumer to the nearest retail outlet, at which the bulbs with technical flaws can be replaced.
• Through the UJALA scheme consumers can avail from a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 10 LED bulbs, depending on the region. Studies indicate that a domestic household on an average has 5-6 lighting points.

Analysis:

• An ordinary bulb is an extremely energy inefficient form of lighting with just 5% of the electricity input converted to light. Efficient light bulbs like Light-emitting Diode (LEDs) consumes only one-tenth of energy used by ordinary bulb to provide the same or better light output. However, high cost of LEDs has been a barrier in adoption of such efficient lighting systems.
• As of now, EESL has distributed over 10 crore LED bulbs under UJALA programme and this has led to significant savings to the country and consumers who are using these bulbs.
• Under India’s commitment to achieving 30-35% reduced carbon emissions, the country has recognized energy efficiency as a key mitigation strategy. Therefore, the government is committed to executing schemes like UJALA.
• The UJALA scheme has played a significant role in creating awareness about energy efficient lighting. In 2014-15, the total number of LED bulbs that were distributed was mere 30 lakhs. The number of LED bulbs distributed in 2015-16 has crossed 15 crore, where 9 crore LED bulbs were distributed under UJALA and the remaining were contributed by the industry. For this year, the Government of India is confident of distributing an additional 20 crore LED bulbs. Sustained efforts under UJALA, coupled with industry support, will help the government achieve its objective of replacing 77 crore inefficient bulbs by March 2019.
• Efficient domestic lighting is one of the largest contributors to energy savings globally and the distribution of 10 crore LED bulbs in India has led to savings of over 1,298 crore kWh annually. This number has also helped the country avoid capacity of about 2,600 MW. Most importantly, the country has benefitted from reduction of CO2 emission by over 1 crore tonnes annually.
• LED bulbs consume half the energy as that of CFLs and one tenth as that of incandescent bulbs. UJALA is the largest non-subsidised LED programme in the world. The programme has led to significant savings to the consumers who are using these bulbs.

By: Vishal