Government halts subsidy on CFL to encourage LED-based solar lights
NEW DELHI: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has decided to stop the subsidy on CFL-based solar lighting system so as to encourage the use of the LED version.
“The ministry has stopped providing central financial assistance to CFL-based solar lighting system and the same will be available to LED-based solar lighting system”, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said in a circular here.
Under the Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP), the government has already distributed about 3.27 crore LED bulbs through power distribution companies.
State-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) is procuring LED bulbs for distribution under the DELP scheme. It has been able to procure LED bulbs for Rs 73 per piece as of June, down from Rs 310 in February 2014, a reduction of over 75 per cent.
Recently, Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal has set a target of bringing down the procurement price of LED bulbs to Rs 44 per unit by EESL through competitive bidding process.
Besides, the government is giving a big push to use of solar energy through various measures including central financial assistance for buying appliances run by this clean energy.
India has made an international commitment to reduce its carbon emission intensity by 30-35 per cent. Building capacities while adopting and deploying new energy efficient technology, and other technologies to reduce carbon emissions is one of the mitigation strategies that India has.
Experts say that LED has many advantages over the CFL as it is environment friendly and has longer life. The mercury content in the CFL makes its disposal difficult.
Under DELP, the government wants to replace all the 77 crore incandescent bulbs sold in India with LED bulbs. This will result in reduction of 20,000 MW load, energy savings of 105 billion KWh and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions savings of 80 million tonnes every year.
The annual saving in electricity bills will be Rs 40,000 crore, considering an average tariff of Rs 4 per kWh.
Read full article: Economic Times
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