Did You Know India Has Distributed 15 Million LEDs so Far? Here's How You Can Get Yours!

LED bulbs can be highly beneficial for India in terms of saving energy, saving the environment, saving money and a lot more. And India sure knows this. These tweets show how the Indian government is taking various steps to move towards a more eco-friendly lighting solution, and how it's helping you come aboard.

It uses 1/10th of the energy of a normal incandescent bulb, half the energy of a CFL bulb, produces the same amount of light as either of them, and lasts much longer - the Light Emitting Diode or LED bulb is slowly gaining appreciation as the most efficient source of lighting in India. And our government too is trying its best to bank on the energy saving properties of these bulbs.

In January this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scheme for LED bulb distribution under the domestic efficient lighting programme (DELP) in Delhi. Beginning with the national capital, the aim was to take the programme for LED-based home and street lighting to the entire country.

This is an effort by the government to spread awareness about energy conservation. The plan is to distribute LED bulbs in a phased manner. Its implementation began in March 2015, and the target is to cover 100 cities with domestic and street lighting by March 2016.

The high cost of LEDs (Rs. 400 to 500) restricts buyers from purchasing these bulbs. So the idea is to overcome the first cost barrier. And for this, the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) offers up to 4 LED bulbs (with 3 years warranty) to eligible grid connected domestic consumers at an average cost of Rs. 10 each, with Rs. 10 being added to their electricity bill for the next 12 months. The Ministry of Power has set up EESL, a joint venture of NTPC Limited, Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and Power Grid, to facilitate implementation of energy efficiency projects.

In June this year, Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal, also said that the government is planning to save $2 billion in four years by cutting down on energy usage by 10,000 MW during peak hours by promoting LED lights.

According to the DELP official website, more than 15 million LEDs have been distributed till date.

It's being called the #ILEDTheWay campaign. And this is what the campaign looks like till now.

The number of distributed LEDs has been constantly increasing and their website shows real time updates:

Successful implementation of this project will mean immense savings in terms of energy:

And reduction in Carbon dioxide emission:

And of course the money:

Bulbs are being provided to one and all, at very affordable rates:

And this is the target for our streets:

As of now, LED distributions are ongoing in five states - Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, and preparations are under way for seven more states.

If you are in any of these places, click on your state in the map here, and you will find details of the nearest spot where you can collect your bulbs.

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