At present, there is no plan to phase out the incandescent bulbs through gradual ban on production and sale, said power minister Piyush Goyal in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

The minister said that as per the information received from Electric Lamp Component Manufacturers’ Association of India (ELCOMA), the average sale of conventional incandescent bulbs is about 770 million pieces.

Read: Rural Electrification: Let there be light

He said that the National LED programme, called Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) and Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) have been launched in 2015, which are being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture company of four Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under Ministry of Power.

The target is to replace 77 crore old bulbs with LED bulbs under UJALA scheme and 3.5 crore street lights in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the country under SLNP by March 31, 2019.

Read: UJALA scheme keeps 64% of the citizens in darkness

EESL has developed an innovative business model in which the entire investment in these programme is made by EESL and the investment is paid back over a time from energy savings. There is no element of government of India subsidy in the scheme.

As on February 6, 2017, approximately 20.60 crore LED bulbs have been distributed under UJALA scheme and 16.80 Lakhs street lights have been replaced by LED lights under SLNP by EESL.