In a major success for the Modi government, the Ministry of Power has completed seven years of distributing and selling LED lights under its flagship UJALA programme.

Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) was launched by the Prime Minister on 5 January 2015. In a short span, the programme has evolved to be the world’s largest zero-subsidy domestic lighting programme that addresses concerns like high electrification cost and high emissions that result from inefficient lighting.

As of today, more than 36.78 crore LEDs have been distributed across the country. The success of the programme – which has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people – lies in its inimitable strategic approach to energy efficiency.

In 2014, UJALA succeeded in bringing down the retail price of LED bulbs from Rs 300-350 per bulb to Rs 70-80 per bulb. Apart from making affordable energy accessible to all, the programme also resulted in massive energy savings. As of today, 47,778 Million kWh per annum energy has been saved. 9,565 MW of peak demand has been avoided, along with 386 crore tonnes of reduction in CO2 emissions.

UJALA has been readily adopted by all the states. It has helped in reducing annual household electricity bills. Consumers have been able to save money, improve their quality of life, and contribute to India’s economic growth and prosperity, an official release claimed today.

Under the programme, the government has ensured transparency and encouraged competition by e-procurement of goods and services. This has resulted in significant reduction in transaction cost and time, enhancing process efficiency.

With UJALA, the cost of LED bulbs has come down by 85 per cent. This, in turn, has led to a much larger pool of bidders, enhanced quality of the product and availability of better specifications for the consumers. Leveraging increased industry competition and mass procurement, EESL has adopted an innovative procurement strategy which resulted in well-known benefits and is now known as the USP of Program Ujala.

UJALA has been instrumental in delivering significant environmental benefits. It has also helped in enhancing consumer awareness on financial and environmental benefits associated with energy efficiency.

It provides an impetus to the domestic lighting industry. It encourages Make in India as domestic manufacturing of LED bulbs has increased from 1 lakh per month to 40 million per month.

The programme has also garnered attention from top management schools of India. It is now a part of Leadership case study in the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. Furthermore, it is also under consideration for being included in the curriculum of Harvard Business School.