Over 6 crore LED bulbs to be distributed in a year: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: The Centre has set a target to distribute over six crore LED bulbs through State-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) in a span of one year, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said today.

"We will get 100X (times) growth in 1 year in LED Distribution at @EESL_India (Energy Efficiency Services Ltd) - From 6 lakh to 6 crore," Goyal tweeted. Under the Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP), the government has already distributed about 3.77 crore LED bulbs through power distribution companies.

The EESL is procuring LED bulbs for distribution under the DELP scheme. It has been able to procure LED bulbs for about Rs 73 per piece as of June, down from Rs 310 in February 2014, a reduction of over 75 per cent.

Goyal said, "If EESL was a private firm, we could have never reduced LED bulb price by 76 per cent. We can meet social objectives by empowering PSUs."

Commenting on the ability of the public sector to deliver, the minister said in his tweet, "If roads can be built overnight for a dignitaries visit, with right empowerment PSUs can perform consistently. PSUs can't perform is a misconception. Coal India produced 32 million tonnes last year; more than wht it produced in 4 years during 2010-14."

"Public memory is short but there were headlines of coal crisis in the country just a year back with 4-5 parliamentary questions every week. Now I have not received any question on coal shortage in Parliament in past few sessions and no power plant in the country is short of coal," he further tweeted.

The minister said, "PSUs under my Ministries added 1.28 lakh school toilets in just one year. Not possible to do only through private CSR."

Giving a message on energy conservation, he said in his tweet,"Let us all pledge on National Energy Conservation Day to strengthen & redouble our efforts towards energy conservation and efficiency."