SRINAGAR: Rural households in Jammu and Kashmir received an average of 20 hours and 23 minutes of electricity supply per day during 2025-26, below the national average of 22 hours and 36 minutes, while 15,359 additional households in the Union Territory have been sanctioned for grid electrification under the Centre’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), Parliament was informed on Thursday.
In a written reply to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik said electricity distribution falls within the jurisdiction of State governments and distribution utilities, while the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020 provide for 24×7 power supply, subject to any lower supply hours specified by State Electricity Regulatory Commissions for certain consumer categories.
According to the State-wise data placed before Parliament, Jammu and Kashmir recorded an average rural power supply of 20:23 hours per day in 2025-26, while neighbouring Ladakh recorded 21:45 hours. Tamil Nadu and Telangana reported 24-hour rural supply, whereas the national average stood at 22:36 hours.
The Minister said the Centre had completed electrification of all willing households by March 31, 2019 under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya), as reported by States and Union Territories.
He stated that after the initial deadline, 23.29 lakh additional households identified before 2019 later expressed willingness to receive electricity connections, taking the total number of households electrified during the Saubhagya period to 2.86 crore, against the original estimate of 3 crore households. The total includes households electrified under parallel State schemes.
For Jammu and Kashmir, the government said 3,77,045 households were electrified during the Saubhagya period.
The reply further stated that both DDUGJY and Saubhagya closed on March 31, 2022, and electrification efforts are now continuing under the RDSS.
Under the RDSS, the Centre has sanctioned Rs 106.70 crore for electrifying 15,359 additional households in Jammu and Kashmir. The sanctioned grant from the Centre stands at Rs 96.03 crore, of which Rs 18.70 crore has been released so far. However, the government informed Parliament that no households had been electrified under this component as of the latest reporting period.
Additionally, under the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DA-JGUA) component of the RDSS, 13,824 tribal households in Jammu and Kashmir have been approved for grid electrification with a sanctioned outlay of Rs 89.84 crore. Parliament was informed that work under this component had also not yet resulted in any completed household electrification in the Union Territory.
The Ministry said the RDSS also covers electrification of households belonging to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, Scheduled Castes under PM-AJAY, tribal families under DA-JGUA and households in remote and border villages under the Vibrant Villages Programme wherever grid connectivity is feasible.
