Vellore leads Tamil Nadu in LED bulb procurement

Sources said that Tamil Nadu was a late entrant to the UJALA (Unnat Jyothi by Affordable LED for All) scheme undertaken by the joint venture EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Limited) resulting in the state presently using only 20.82 lakh LED bulbs - an increase from the mere 66,000 a year ago. 

“The savings in power and cost, avoiding peak demand and reduction in carbon di oxide make itobligatory for states to switch over to LED products from incandescent bulbs and tube lights” an TN official said. 

Though LED products sales – through counters in TNAGEDCO offices - have picked considerably, TN has a long way to go to match states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Bihar, which have reported 3.92 crore, 2.97 crore and 1.75 crore LED bulb sales respectively, according to the national UJALA dashboard, which updates itself automatically every 30 seconds. Vellore which has having procured 1.11 lakh LED bulbsdistrict leads the state followed by Kancheepuram with 1.02 lakh bulbs. 

While Perambalur and Ariyalur have reported nil procurement till date, Kanniyakumari and Tirunelveli districts have procured 150 bulbs each. The Nilgiris has purchased 50 bulbs. Vellore Collector SA Raman flagged off mobile units on Saturday aimedat selling 9 watt LED bulbs at discounted rates to rural folk. 

A top EESL official said that “it has been planned to cover 7.70 lakh households in 1477 villages in Tamil Nadu under the central government’s 22-day gram sabha abhiyan scheme, which will end on May 5. No target has been fixed for bulb sales, as the drive is more to create awareness.”