Centre plans to cut down energy demand by 10,000 MW with LED bulbs: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: Minister of State for Power (Independent Charge) Piyush Goyal on Thursday shared that the Centre's plan of reducing the energy demand of the country during peak hours by around 10,000 MW, identifying LED bulbs as central to the vision.

"I am delighted to see the response of all people of India in our efforts to save electricity. The plan is to cut down energy demand by nearly 10,000 MW in peak hours by changing all LED lights in street and homes by 2019. This itself will save power to the tune of USD two billion," Goyal wrote, while answering a query in a question-and-answer session held by him on Facebook.

"Apart from this, we are focusing on star rated electrical appliances being encouraged and improving industrial energy efficiency to give an overall saving of about 100 billion units a year, that is 10 percent of our current consumption by 2019. This power and cash saving I hope to utilize to power the homes of 280 million Indians deprived of energy access, sadly, 67 years after independence," he added.

Earlier, Goyal had noted that over the last one year, the cost of LED bulbs has come down drastically.

"In September 2014 the cost of the LED bulb was Rs 215, in November Rs.149, in February Rs 102. There has been a 74 per cent deduction in the purchase of LED bulb in seven months and it is our mission to replace all bulbs with LED bulbs within three years," Goyal had said.