Rural electrification project inaugurated

CHANDANAKAMPARA(KANNUR): Union Minister of State for Engergy K C Venugopal has said that as many as 4.71 lakh villages in the country will be electrified as part of a massive electrification plan drawn up for rural India by the Union government. Inaugurating the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) here on Saturday, Venugopal said that the  government was planning to give free power to 2.34 crore houses in the country and that 1.60 lakh houses had already been provided free electricity. The estimated cost of the whole scheme is Rs 33,000 crore, he said. He said that Idukki district in the state had already achieved the target as regards implementation of the RGGVY scheme. The scheme is to be implemented in six districts of Malabar. The Central government had already sanctioned Rs 1,500 crore for electrification of villages and urban areas in the state, he said. He said that Kerala may require 6,300 megawatts of power by 2020. He said that the policy of the Union government was to explore all possible ways for generating power without causing any harm to the environment.Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed presided over the function. District-level inauguration of the scheme was done by K C Joseph MLA. Sunny Joseph MLA offered felicitations.