Hailing from a small town Vadnagar, Modi had witnessed frequent
load shedding and power failures during his childhood days.
Such power failures not only used to hamper the studies
of children but also affected the economic activities in
the semiurban and rural areas. Modi hence conceived a scheme
called Jyoti Gram Yojana to provide 3-phase, 24-hour, uninterrupted
power supply to all the 18,065 villages and also to the
9,680 suburbs attached to these villages.
This single initiative has brought a revolutionary change
in the life-pattern and economic activities of rural Gujarat.
This initiative will not only promote development of small
scale industries and generation of additional employment,
but will also reduce the migration of village population
to urban areas.
From an earlier power supply situation of 8-14 hours a day,
the Jyoti Gram Yojana through its 24-hour, high quality
power has given a tremendous boost to the rural economy.
What is also unique about this initiative is the timebound
approach of this project. Implemented in a record time of
30 months, the Jyoti Gram Yojana has enabled Gujarat to
become the first state in India to achieve 100% electrification
of villages.
Households, commercial establishments and educational institutions
in these rural areas are now truly empowered and Jyoti Gram
Yojana tends to be a catalyst to give fillip to many socio-economic
and educational revolution.
Gujarat has always managed its power situation very well.
The current power generating capacity of 9700 MW (excluding
4000 MW of captive generation) will be augmented to 15,000
MW in next five years.
Gujarat is also focused on tapping non-conventional energy
sources such as Wind and Tidal power and has also started
commercial production of bio-diesel. The state government
has already declared incentive schemes for biogas cogeneration
based co-generation, energy generation through solar photo
voltaic cells, geo-thermal sources, urban solid waste and
biomass. Major new generation capacities are being added
by harnessing wind energy, hydro-power as well as through
setting up of Gas and lignite based power plants.