Indian mission adopt UJALA scheme in UK

• The Indian High Commission in London along with Vedanta Group will be among the first to adopt India’s UJALA scheme of replacing all their old lamps with energy-saving LED bulbs in the UK.
• Under this a target is set for the EESL to replace 100 million incandescent bulbs with LEDs in the UK by March 2019.
• The EESL, under the Indian power ministry, is a joint venture of four state-run entities – Power Grid, NTPC, Rural Electrification Corporation Limited and the Power Finance Corporation Limited.

About UJALA scheme:

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

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