Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of Public Sector Undertakings under the administration of Ministry of Power is celebrating the 8th anniversary of its flagship programmes, Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) and Streetlighting National Programme (SLNP). For the past years, EESL has pioneered large-scale impact through its energy efficient solutions, especially in the lighting sector.
UJALA has contributed significantly to the rapid adoption of LED technology in India. EESL devised a unique strategy to bring about mass-scale transformation by collaborating with states, municipal bodies, and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). By using a Pay-As-You-Save (PAYS) model, it replaces traditional lights with LEDs at its own expense, with no upfront investment required from municipalities, making LED adoption even more appealing and affordable.
EESL’s strategy created a ripple effect throughout the supply chain, leading to favorable economies of scale for a range of manufacturers. This helped to grow and strengthen the domestic LED market with high-quality products and enabled LED manufacturers to establish a strong business ecosystem.
Mr Vishal Kapoor, CEO, EESL, said: “Today marks the 8th anniversary of UJALA and Streetlighting National Programme. Throughout this journey, EESL has succeeded in bringing energy efficient LED lighting into the spotlight. Additionally, it has focused on improving the uptake of renewable energy, enabling widespread adoption of electric mobility, and revolutionizing the power sector with energy efficient technological advancements. Ever since their inception in 2015, we have distributed over 36 crores LED bulbs as a part of UJALA and installed more than 1.3 crore LED streetlights as part of SLNP. Both programmes have grown to become significant catalysts in bringing social, economic, and ecological transformation in the country. They have been instrumental in enabling universal access to affordable and energy efficient LED lighting in India.”
“Thousands of citizens in the remotest of regions in India have been empowered with an improved standard of living, better control over their energy consumption and an increase in monetary savings. EESL has fundamentally changed how LED bulbs are perceived by India’s citizens, first by making them eminently affordable through economies of scale, and then using this cost benefit to drive the message of reduced energy bills and better lighting quality.”
As of today, more than 36.8 crores LED bulbs and 72 lakhs LED tubelights have been distributed as part of UJALA programme. This has resulted in estimated energy savings of 48.42 billion kWh per year, along with peak demand avoidance of 9,789 MW; GHG emission reduction of 39.30 million t CO2 per year and estimated annual monetary savings of INR 19,333 crore in consumer electricity bills.
The Streetlighting National Programme (SLNP) was launched in 2015 with the goal of improving road safety in India by lighting up streets at night. As part of the program, EESL replaces traditional streetlights with LED lighting at its own cost, with no upfront investment required from municipalities. This service model allows municipalities to adopt state-of-the-art LED streetlights at no upfront capital cost and with no repayment obligations to EESL, eliminating the need for additional revenue expenditure for the transition to energy-efficient LED streetlights. So far, EESL has successfully installed over 1.27 crore LED streetlights in ULBs and Gram Panchayats across India. This has resulted in estimated energy savings of 8.58 billion kWh per year with avoided peak demand of 1,429 MW, GHG emission reduction of 5.90 million t CO2 per year and estimated annual monetary savings of INR 6,004 crore in electricity bills of municipalities.
