T. Ramakrishnan Total cost Rs.447 crore; plan is to complete work by September next year Initially, 26 districts (other than Dharmapuri, the Nilgiris and Tirunelveli) to be covered 5.25 lakh families under Below Poverty Line to be provided free power connections CHENNAI: Three years after its launch at the national level, the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) [scheme for rural electricity infrastructure and rural household electrification] is to be taken up in Tamil Nadu.

About 708 remote villages and hamlets have been electrified in the north-eastern States so far under the Remote Village Electrification (RVE) programme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, with about 1,167 projects under implementation in villages/hamlets, according to a PIB press release.

Attacking the BJP for not fulfilling poll promises, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath on Monday announced free electricity to farmers if the Congress came to power in Madhya Pradesh. "If the Congress comes back to power in the coming Assembly polls, it will give free power to farmers for five horse power pumps and also single-point power connections to SC/ST and those living below the poverty line,' Nath told reporters before addressing a party rally here.

7.5 MW electricity will be generated for the Barwala-Raipur Rani area in a year's time; proposal awaits final nod from the Haryana govt If everything goes as planned by the Panchkula district administration, 7.5 megawatts of electricity will be generated through poultry droppings to light up the power-starved Barwala-Raipur Rani area in a year's time.

Chak Bala, June 08 Farmers whose thousands of acres of fertile land falls across the barbed fence at the International Border expressed their anguish during a training-cum-awareness camp organised by the Agriculture Department here yesterday. During an interaction with the farmers, Deputy Commissioner K S Pannu said he found that farmers could reap only one crop in a year and that too at the mercy of the rain god and stray animals from Pakistan that ravage their fields.

Of the reported 25 lakh homes worldwide that use solar home systems today, about" 3.6 lakh are in India, second only to China which has four lakh solar home system users.

In a bid to resolve the worsening power crisis in the State, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has chosen 54 interior villages of Asom including six in Jorhat to be powered by alternative source of energy. In Jorhat district, the Forest Department has began the contract for lighting up six villages

The Forest Department will provide solar lights for electrification of six remote villages in the district. A meeting was held today between the Jorhat Deputy Commissioner and Forest officials to discuss the Centre-sponsored project. Preliminary details regarding the implementation of the project were discussed in the meeting. The use of solar lights may be effective in tackling the elephant menace in these interior villages. Though it has not been finalized yet, there are plans to include Hatisal and Dainigaon in Neamati area and a Majuli village under the project.

The Austrian government has committed 2.15 million euros to Bhutan within the bilateral program for this year.

LEH: The Rural Electrification Corporation Limited has approved and sanctioned a project for Rs. 198.08 crores for electrification of Leh district. Out of the Rs.198 crores, Rs. 38 crores will be sent on scheme for rural electricity infrastructure and rural household electrification for 6909 rural household in Leh district and the rest Rs 160 crores will be spent on laying 66 KV transmission line and erecting power station from Dha to Hemya to enable transmission of electricity from Alchi project to various villages of Leh district.