BESCOM will sell Compact Fluorescent Lamps at Rs15 apiece from next week

It’s time. Yes, the time has come to say goodbye to incandescent bulbs and light your house by energy-efficient Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs).

Waking up to the need for conserving energy, the state government has decided to distribute four CFL bulbs to each  household at a subsidised rate under its ‘Belaku’ scheme. The much-anticipated scheme will be launched next week.
In the first phase, the project will be cover eight districts under Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) jurisdiction. Then the scheme would be extended to all ESCOMS.

Speaking to DNA, energy minister Shobha Karandlaje said, “The state government had planned to launch ‘Belaku’ programme in last October itself, but due to various reasons it was delayed. Now it will be launched on February 12, under which long lasting CFLs would be distributed in exchange for incandescent lamps at a subsidised rate of Rs15 a bulb.”

The minister emphasised that CFL or LED lamps can help people save at least 25% on their electricity bill. “We are insisting on not only saving electricity but also the environment. To cut down the global warming international agencies are insisting all the countries to go for CFL and LED, they are giving financial aid through carbon credit,” said Shobha.

She said CFL bulbs would be distributed to all the households at subsidised rates. “As per market rate each CFL bulb costs ` 80 to 90, but we will give the bulbs at just `15. The difference in amount will be recovered by Bescom through Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) where in Bescom will recover the differential amount by selling carbon credit,” she said.

The state government has already issued a directive for replacing incandescent bulbs in all government buildings and offices with CFLs.  The scheme is being implemented with the help of Union government-supported Bachat Lamp Yojana Scheme, which has been backed by United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), Shobha explained.

It is estimated that around 400MW of power would be conserved if all the households, commercial establishments and offices are illuminated with CFL and LED bulbs.