It seems all the way to UJALA in Odisha. The State topped the country in LED bulbs distribution. Among all the states, Odisha seems to maintain a 'light year' lead over many bigger states like UP, Bihar and Maharashtra.
Odisha has apparently reaped big as data with the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) shows the State not only entailed in saving a whopping 67.88 lakh megawatt-hour (MWh) energy every year but also avoided a peak demand to the tune of 1,359 MW.
Moreover, as per EESL, Odisha households saw monetary saving to the tune of Rs 2,715 crore and it has also helped the State in reducing 54.98 lakh tonnes of CO2/year.
Ujala Rules In Odisha
As of Aug 12, 2021, the total LED bulb distribution stood at over 5.2270 crore. The LED penetration in Odisha stood at a healthy nearly 6 bulbs per household. Tribal districts alone accounted for a massive 1.3 cr LED bulbs. The oil companies like IOCL and BPCL alone had distributed nearly 3.4 lakh cr, whereas the common service centres had distributed over 57k LED bulbs in the State.
The district-wise data available with EESL shows Khurda district 'LED' the chart in State with a total distribution of over 46.27 lakh LED bulbs.
However, when it comes to LED penetration per household, Jharsuguda led the State. With around 67,800 households, the LED penetration (number of LED bulbs per household) in the district stood at around 12. In contrast, Khurda district has over 5.03 lakh households and LED penetration in the district stood at only 9 LED per household.
Though Ganjam is ranked 2nd in LED distribution (41.32lakh), in LED per household, districts like Cuttack and tribal districts like Malkangiri and Koraput are light years ahead of their coastal counterpart in LED penetration.
The LED bulbs penetration in the Koraput district stood high at 5.96 per household and is followed by Malkangiri with a penetration count of 5.7 LED bulbs per household. Both the districts seemingly have a penetration higher than the state average.
As per data available, The LED penetration per household in the Cuttack district stood at 6.1. The Lowest LED penetration in State is recorded in the Dhenkanal district, where each household has mere 4 LED bulbs.
The tribal districts that have a penetration rate below the state average of 5.6 are Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Mayubhanj, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Nabrangpur.
The UJALA Scheme
The UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All) scheme, which was launched by PM Modi on January 5, 2015, has completed its 5th anniversary on January 5 this year. Significantly, UJALA was launched in Odisha in April 2016. Under the scheme, EESL provided consumers with 9 Watt LED bulbs at a rate of Rs. 70, LED tube lights at a rate of Rs. 290, respectively, which are much below the market price.