Hailing from Vadnagar, a small town in North Gujarat, Modi had witnessed frequent load shedding and power failures during his childhood. Such power failures not only used to hamper the studies of children but also affected economic activities in semiurban and rural areas. Modi hence conceived a scheme called Jyoti Gram Yojana to provide 3-phase, 24-hour, uninterrupted power supply to all 18,065 villages and also to the 9,680 suburbs attached to these villages.

This single initiative has brought a revolutionary change in the life-pattern and economic activities of rural Gujarat. This initiative will not only promote development of small scale industries and generation of additional employment, but will also reduce the migration of village population to urban areas.

From an earlier power supply situation of 8-14 hours a day, the Jyoti Gram Yojana through its 24-hour, high quality power has given a tremendous boost to the rural economy. What is also unique about this initiative is the timebound approach of this project. Implemented in a record time of 30 months, the Jyoti Gram Yojana has enabled Gujarat to become the first state in India to achieve 100% electrification of villages.

Households, commercial establishments and educational institutions in these rural areas are now truly empowered and Jyoti Gram Yojana is a catalyst which is helping to give a fillip to many socio-economic and educational revolutions.

Gujarat has always managed its power situation very well. The current power generating capacity of 9,700 MW (excluding 4,000 MW of captive generation) will be augmented to 15,000 MW in the next five years.

Gujarat is also focused on tapping non-conventional energy sources such as Wind and Tidal power and has also started commercial production of bio-diesel. The state government has already declared incentive schemes for biogas based co-generation, energy generation through solar photo voltaic cells, geo-thermal sources, urban solid waste and biomass. Major new generation capacities are being added by harnessing wind energy, hydro-power as well as through setting up Gas and lignite based power plants.