Union Power Minister RK Singh has revealed that power availability in the entire country, including the northeastern region, has increased to an average of 21 and 23 hours per day in rural and urban areas, respectively.

“Power sector has witnessed tremendous growth over the past few years in the areas of generation, transmission and distribution, and the objective is to give 24*7 power supply to every household in the rural and urban areas of the country and to make India a world leader in power production,” the cabinet minister was quoted in a report by India Today.

Singh explained that the power system in the northeast has been revamped and thus developed tremendously in the past three-four years.

He added that power holds the key to the overall development and that its seamless supply is an essential component to bring about the same across the country.

Assam Chief Minister (CM) Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma echoed those views by stating that the central government’s Saubhagya scheme aims to electrify all the un-electrified households in India has “resulted in a paradigm shift in illuminating the country.”

Singh had conducted a meeting with the state power ministers to discuss the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme that aims to provide financial support for smart metering and the up-gradation of the overall electricity distribution infrastructure.