Every house to have electricity in 5 years: PM

Each and every household in the country will have electricity in the next five years along with improvement in power supply, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday.

In his Independence Day address, the Prime Minister said while almost all villages have been electrified, "our next target is to provide electricity to each and every household in our country in the next five years and to also improve the supply of electricity".

The UPA Government had launched the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme under which more than 100,000 additional villages have been provided with electricity connections, he added.

Singh's statement comes within days of the nation facing the worst-ever power cuts in most parts of the country, due to grid failures.

In the worst ever power crisis, over 60 crore people in 21 states of the country were left without electricity for several hours last month as three major transmission grids failed.

On the infrastructure sector overall, Singh said steps will be taken to increase investment with the help of the private sector.

The government has already fixed ambitious targets in roads, airports, railways, power generation and coal production, he added.

The prime minister emphasised that development of infrastructure is critical for attracting private sector investment and employment generation.

India envisages $1 trillion investment in the infrastructure sector in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17).

Photograph: Reuters