- Government of India’s UJALA & Street Lighting National Programme Complete Five Successful years of Illuminating India
Launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on January 5th, 2015, the Government of India’s zero subsidy Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) and LED Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP), marked its fifth anniversary.
SLNP is the world’s largest streetlight replacement programme and UJALA is the world’s largest domestic lighting project. Both have been spearheaded and implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, Government of India.
Under the SLNP programme, over 1.03 crore smart LED streetlights have been installed till date, enabling an estimated energy savings of 6.97 billion kWh per year with an avoided peak demand of 1,161 MW and an estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction of 4.80 million tCO2 annually. LED streetlights have been installed in various states across the country, helping generate approximately 13,000 jobs to support GoI’s Make in India initiative.
Through the UJALA initiative, over 36.13 crore LED bulbs have been distributed across India. This has resulted in estimated energy savings of 46.92 billion kWh per year, avoided peak demand of 9,394 MW, and an estimated GHG emission reduction of 38 million t CO2 annually.
With the concerted efforts towards building a robust ecosystem for LED in India, these programmes have bagged global awards like the prestigious South Asia Procurement Innovation Award (SAPIA) 2017 and for the innovative use of IT and the business results achieved in Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP), it won 2019 CIO 100 award. The highly successful UJALA and SLNP have also bagged the Global Solid State Lighting (SSL) award of excellence for the transformational contribution to the LED sector.
UJALA project brought the market transformation in energy efficiency sector. Prices of LED bulbs being distributed under UJALA programme have fallen to one-tenth of their rates in 2015 from INR. 310 to INR 38 in 2018. The switch from inefficient incandescent bulbs to LEDs is helping families reduce their electricity bills while also enabling them to access better brightness in homes. The money saved adds to a household’s disposable income and lifetime savings, thus improving their quality of life, generating prosperity in local communities, and in expanding energy access to all. With the average household electricity bills down by 15 per cent, the annual energy saving is equivalent to a week’s average earning. The sale of LED bulbs in the Indian market increased from 0.1 per cent of the lighting market in 2014 to 15 per cent within a year, with a projected increase to 60 per cent by 2020. The domestic LED market has also grown significantly beyond the UJALA programme, with the industry selling over 1.15 billion LEDs, far exceeding the UJALA programme’s target of 700 million LED unit sales.
Apart from this, the Government of India initiated the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (GSA) in 2018, which was aimed at promotion of social harmony by apprising rural communities of various government welfare schemes and initiatives. As a part of GSA, 21,058 Indian villages with a significantly large number of poor households were able to buy LED bulbs for a special price under UJALA programme. The LED bulbs equipped homes with energy-efficient, cost-effective lighting, and higher lumen output than conventional incandescent bulbs.
Simultaneously, LED Street Lighting National Programme has enabled citizens to increase productivity at night and made roads safer for pedestrians and motorists due to enhanced brightness and reduced dark spots. The power utilities of states where the installation of LEDs has been implemented save up to 50 per cent in electricity bills, while ensuring 95 percent of streetlight uptime. As these lights are automated, they switch on and off at sunrise and sunset thereby reducing wastage. Utilities can also remotely track and rectify any faults with support of CCMS. In the last five years, the LED streetlights installed have illuminated 3,00,000 km of roads in India, enabling public safety and energy efficient lighting.
Functioning of Gram Panchayats (GP) has a direct impact on the everyday life of millions of rural people. Hence, the role of GP is critical for overall inclusive development and for deepening democracy through participatory governance. The estimated number of streetlights in GPs of India is 3.08 crores, by retrofitting these 3.08 crores conventional streetlights to LED streetlights can enable energy savings of approx. 3420 Million kWh & CO2 emission reduction of approx. 29 lakh tons. Till date, under Street Lighting National Programme, approx. 23 lakhs LED streetlights have already been retrofitted in the Gram Panchayats in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
By March 2020, SLNP aims to replace 1.34 crore conventional streetlights in India with smart LEDs. This ambitious goal will make a tremendous difference, enabling peak demand reduction of about 1500 MW, annual energy savings of 9 billion kWh, and reduction in 6.2 Million tons of CO2 per year. EESL has an ambitious plan in this portfolio for next 4-5 years where it intends to bring investment to the tune of INR 8,000 crores by 2024 by covering entire rural India. It is expected that more than 30 million LED streetlights would be retrofitted/installed by EESL.
- BEE Notifies New Energy Performance Standards for Air ConditionersAll Room Air Conditioners to have Default Temperature Setting of 24 Degrees Celsius from Jan 1, 2020
The Central Government in consultation with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has notified new energy performance standards for Room Air Conditioner (RACs).
The 240C default setting has been made mandatory from Jan 1, 2020 for all room air conditioners covered under the ambit of BEE star-labelling program vide this notification. Additionally, the Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER) as per the new standards will range from (3.30 – 5.00) for split and (2.70 – 3.50) for window air conditioners, which will be applicable from 1st January 2021 onwards.
The notification states, “All brands and types of star labelled room air conditioners, namely, Multi-Stage Capacity Air Conditioners, Unitary Air Conditioners and Split Air Conditioners which are rated from one star to five star, based on their relative energy efficiencies up to a rated cooling capacity of 10,465 Watts (9,000 kcal/hour) and manufactured, commercially purchased or sold in India, shall ensure default setting of temperature in the room air conditioners at twenty-four degrees Celsius with effect from the 1st January 2020.”
BEE launched the voluntary star labelling program for fixed-speed room air conditioners (RACs) in 2006, and this program became mandatory on 12th January 2009. Thereafter, in 2015, voluntary star labelling program for inverter room air conditioners was launched and which was made mandatory with effect from 1st January 2018. The BEE star labelling program for Room Air Conditioners now covers both fixed and inverter RAC up to a cooling capacity of 10,465 watts (2.97 TR). Continual enhancement in performance levels has resulted in substantial energy efficiency improvement of about 43% in the minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for split units, which are the most popular RACs sold in the market. ISEER (Indian Seasonal Energy efficiency ratio) is the energy performance index used for Room Air Conditioners (RACs) and its assessment is based on the bin hours defined in ISO 16358.
About BEE
BEE is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power, Government of India. It is assisted in developing policies and strategies with the primary objective of reducing the energy intensity of the Indian economy. BEE coordinates with designated consumers, designated agencies, and other organization to identify and utilize the existing resources and infrastructure, in performing the functions assigned to it under the energy conservation act.
- Special Drive to Remove Speed Breakers from National Highways
A special drive has been initiated for removal of all sorts of speed breakers on National Highways. The step comes in a bid to ensure smooth and hassle-free traffic movement, especially at toll plazas. With the effective implementation of FASTag on toll plazas and conversion of cash toll lanes to FASTag lanes, the speed breakers/ rumble strips constructed at toll plazas are being removed with immediate effect for smooth vehicular movement.
Roads of different categories and under different situations are designed for designated speeds at which vehicles can travel with convenience and safety. At certain locations, control of speed becomes necessary to promote orderly traffic movement and improved safety. Considering the fact that National Highways are designed to cater to high speed traffic without any hindrance, the drive to remove speed breakers from national highways under the jurisdiction of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
The speed breakers result in considerable delay, damage to the vehicles and significant discomfort to vehicle occupants and more fuel consumption due to acceleration and deceleration. This initiative will save time, money and facilitate smooth vehicular movement especially to ambulances, elderly and unwell people commuting on National Highways. In the larger context, this will also ensure avoidable wastage of transportation fuel for which country is heavily import-dependent, and will also result in lesser pollution.
Electronic Toll Collection through FASTag has been implemented from 15th December 2019 to provide commotion-free movement on highways. Positive effects of ETC are being realized by the commuters on toll plazas. Introduction of speed breakers-free highways is another step in commitment to provide safe, smooth and seamless journey to commuters on National Highways.