The progress of the programme is being tracked in real-time, the government said. (Reuters photo)
Nearly a third of 18,500 villages promised electricity connections in three years by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year have been electrified already, the government has said.
PM Modi, who chaired a meeting yesterday to review the progress of infrastructure projects, was told that about 6,000 villages now have new access to power.
In his Independence Day speech on August 15 last year, the Prime Minister had announced that
power would reach 18,500 villages in the next 1,000 days.
At the meeting yesterday, PM Modi also took stock of the progress in 'Housing-for-All' programme and directed officials concerned to expedite its implementation.
Sectors like power, coal, housing, ports and Digital India were reviewed in the meeting.
The meeting was also informed of the progress in providing mobile connectivity to villages affected by Left Wing extremism where 1,371 towers have so far been installed, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said today.
"The Prime Minister was informed that the progress of electrification of all unelectrified villages is proceeding at a rapid pace," the statement said.
The progress of the programme is being tracked in real-time using sophisticated technology applications, including geo-tagging, it said.
Significant progress has also been achieved towards achieving the target of 175 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2022. The total installed capacity has reached 39.5 gigawatts already, the government said.
Coal India Limited also announced a 9.2 per cent increase in production this year, as compared to an average of just 3 per cent growth over the last 5 years, the statement said.