₹3 trillion power distribution scheme may get extension
NEW DELHI : The government may extend a scheme aimed at strengthening India’s power distribution infrastructure beyond its intended five-year duration as it seeks to connect more households, especially in rural areas, to the electricity grid. The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), which has an outlay of ₹3 trillion for financial years 2021-22 to 2025-26, may now be extended beyond the five-year period to support increasing demand for electrification, two people aware of the matter said. “RDSS may continue for another five years.
It will move on into the next finance commission period," one of them said. Recommendations of the 16th Finance Commission will be effective from 1 April, 2026. The government had introduced the scheme to help power distribution companies improve their operational efficiency and financial sustainability as it pushed for universal household electrification.
Two earlier programmes—Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)—had ended in 2022. The ministry of power did not reply to queries on the plan to extend RDSS beyond FY26. Responding to a question in Parliament recently, Union power minister R.K.
Singh said the government was supporting states under RDSS to provide electricity to households not covered by earlier schemes. So far, nearly 500,000 households in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have been approved for electrification under the new scheme. “The Saubhagya scheme connected households (that existed during its period)...
But with growth in new houses, demand always grows," said the second person mentioned above. “Even then, many villages were connected through solar and not through the grid. Now, they
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