National Workshop on Material Component of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) was organised jointly by the Rural Electrification Corporation and IEEMA under the aegis of Ministry of Power. In the inaugural Speech, Shri Anil Razdan Secretary, Ministry of Power informed that RGGVY is a component of Bharat Nirman Programme which aims at intensive growth to bring about socio-economic transformation and development of rural India. RGGVY Programme launched by the Government of India in April, 2005 is aimed at providing access of electricity to all rural households and electrification of all villages by the year 2009. It was proposed to cover 1.15 lakh villages and provide free connections to 2.35 crore BPL households.

Under the RGGVY Programme 46,926 villages have been electrified so far and 2.13 million free connections have been provided to poor households and Rs.84 billion Government subsidy released.

RGGVY was approved for implementation in 11th Plan in January, 2008 at a cost of Rs.28000 crore. Since then 316 new projects have been approved at cost of about Rs.160 billion. These projects are likely to commence within next 6 months. The material component of these projects is expected to be 80% of the project cost. The electrical equipment industry will have to prepare itself to supply material requirements for these projects within the specified schedule. The project cycle of RGGVY projects is 18 months from the award. The supply will have to start within 3 months of the award and completed by 12th month to compress the implementation schedule to 15 months, which is the current endeavor of Ministry of Power.

Shri P. Uma Shankar, CMD, REC in his speech said that the ambitious targets of electrifying 1.15 lakh villages and release of 2.33 crore BPL connections under RGGVY need constant monitoring and coordination between various implementing agencies, REC and the Ministry of Power.

The Workshop deliberated on measures/ strategies to ensure timely availability of material/ equipment (which is 80% of project cost) as per quality specifications and in required quantities so that targets of this programme are achieved within time. In addition, there was extensive discussion on common procurement guidelines, standardization of specifications and major bottlenecks in speedy execution of projects. Best practices adopted in implementation of RGGVY scheme in 10th Plan by implementation agencies were shared for the benefit of participants and more effective implementation of the scheme in 11th Plan. The meeting was attended by officials of Ministry of Power, REC, various state level distribution companies and leading electrical equipment manufacturers of the country. Secretary, Ministry of Power released "Quality Control Manual" on this occasion. Shri S.C. Bhargava, President, IEEMA gave the Vote of Thanks.

As the scheme envisages 100% subsidy for providing household connections to the people below poverty line (BPL), special efforts are made to innovate and persuade BPL families for availing free domestic light connections under the National Programme. For this, extra efforts are needed to be undertaken by the States to ensure that all rural households other than BPL households who are provided access to electricity are also motivated to take electricity connections. For this, State Governments need to ensure that electricity supply is for at 6-8 hours .3

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Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), was incorporated on July 25, 1969 under the Companies Act 1956. REC is a wholly owned Government of India Public Sector Enterprise with a net worth of Rs. 3779 Crore. Its main objective is to finance and promote rural electrification projects all over the country. It provides financial assistance to State Electricity Boards, State Government Departments and Rural Electric Cooperatives for rural electrification projects as are sponsored by them.

REC provides loan assistance to SEBs/State Power Utilities for investments in rural electrification schemes through its Corporate Office located at New Delhi and 17 field units (Project Offices), which are located in most of the States.

The Project Offices in the States coordinate the programmes of REC’s financing with the concerned SEBs/State Power Utilities and facilitate in formulation of schemes, loan sanction and disbursement and implementation of schemes by the concerned SEBs/State Power Utilities.