Power minister Ranjit Singh Chautala said that the power department has tied up with three well-known companies — Deccan, Blue Star and Voltas — which will provide electricity cost saving split ACs of 1.5 ton capacity at low cost.
Haryana Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala on Wednesday launched the first of its kind ‘demand side management-AC scheme’ in the state for domestic consumers of urban and rural areas, to promote energy saving. Under this, 1.05 lakh ACs will be made available at a discount of up to 59 per cent of the Minimum Retail Price (MRP) to people of the state. Those interested will have to apply by August 24.
The power minister said that the power department has tied up with three well-known companies — Deccan, Blue Star and Voltas — which will provide electricity cost saving split ACs of 1.5 ton capacity at low cost. Under this, domestic consumers can buy an AC in exchange for their old one. While on one hand these companies will provide discounts on buying new and replacing old ones, the government will also provide subsidies on the ACs. To take advantage of this scheme, interested persons can apply by visiting the electricity department’s web portal
https://acreplacementscheme.uhbvn.org.in.
Chautala said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the state government has made a provision to give more subsidies to consumers of rural areas than urban, under this scheme. A subsidy of Rs 2,000 will be given on buying a new AC in urban areas and Rs 4,000 on replacement of the old AC. Similarly, in rural areas, a subsidy of Rs 4,000 will be given for buying a new AC and Rs 8,000 for replacement an old AC. Apart from this, consumers will also get savings in electricity bills because of the power saving capacity of the new ACs. “By installing these energy-saving new ACs, 657 power units will be saved in comparison to the old 3-star ACs and there will be annual savings of up to Rs 5,000,” said officials. Alongwith this, the compressor will have a warranty of upto 10 years and all other equipment up to one year. Under this scheme, the entire responsibility of fitting free ACs in the homes of the consumer will be of the authorised dealer.
Additional Chief Secretary, power department, P K Das said the AC scheme has been started by power distribution corporations to reduce domestic energy consumption, the first of its kind in the country. “People should come forward to take advantage of this scheme. Under this scheme, 68 MU (mega unit) of energy will be saved in the state by using the AC units and there will be a reduction of 75.6 MW in power demand.” Das further said that earlier in 2016, under a scheme, the power department had installed 1.56 crore LED bulbs and 2.30 lakh tubes in the state and saved 232.42 MW of electricity.
Bijli Vitran Nigam Managing Director Shashank Anand said that due to the tireless efforts of Haryana power corporations, the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses have come down from 29.83 per cent to 14.55 per cent in the past five years. “This means that the losses of the power department are reducing and the more the power department becomes profitable, the cheaper will be the cost of electricity for the people of the state. In order to provide 24 hours electricity to the entire state on the lines of supply in urban areas, the corporations have implemented the ‘Mhara Gaon Jagmag Gaon’ scheme, under which till now, 5,287 villages of the state are being provided electricity 24 hours.”
