CESL Distributes 50 Lakh LED Bulbs to Illuminate Indian Villages

Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), has distributed 50 lakh LED bulbs under Project Crore of their Gram Ujala programme, a press release said.

The Gram Ujala scheme is being implemented in rural households in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana. Led by Union Power Minister R K Singh, CESL began its initiative to illuminate villages in March this year. This month, on National Energy Conservation Day 2021, CESL reportedly distributed 10 lakh bulbs in a single day.

CESL states that it is providing high-quality 7-Watt and 12-Watt LED bulbs with 3 years guarantee at a cost of INR 10 per bulb in exchange of working incandescent bulbs. Every household can exchange a maximum of 5 bulbs. The distribution has resulted in energy savings of 71,99,68,373.28 units per year, with cost savings of 250 crores per year in the rural areas of the aforementioned states, CESL claims. The programme is active till March 31, 2022.

Mahua Acharya, MD & CEO, CESL, said, “This programme is to ensure holistic development of rural ecosystem. Under the leadership of Shri R K Singh Ji, CESL is constantly working towards providing better illumination in the rural parts of five states.” “Working on the same financial model of carbon credits, we will be expanding this to rural parts of other states upon completion of Project Crore,” she added.

CESL is being supported by C-Quest Capital in its entire distribution journey under the SHINE programme. Ken Newcombe, Chief Executive Officer, C- Quest Capital, said, “Using carbon finance as the means to achieve energy efficiency in rural India is a powerful use of carbon markets. Doing this at scale is tremendous.” “Today’s 50 lac milestone is an important marker in this admirable program of the government of India which we are proud to co-finance and facilitate,” he said.