Bridging the Rural-Urban Gaps in Electricity Access: The Effectiveness of the SAUBHAGYA Scheme in India

Abstract

Access to reliable energy is an important prerequisite for the development of a nation. The energy ladder and stacking hypotheses recognize the crucial role of households’ access to cleaner and more convenient energy sources for inclusive and sustainable development. Accordingly, the Government of India and other state governments have taken several steps towards universal electrification in the country. However, a part of the rural households in different parts of the country still lack access to reliable electricity, revealing a rural-urban gap in this regard. Given these backdrops, the present study explores the factors influencing households’ electricity access in major Indian states. The study uses data on 224,712 sample households compiled from the 5th round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and estimates binary logit model. The results indicate that socio-economic conditions such as place of residence, wealth status, and caste category of the household along with age, gender, and literacy level of the family head have significant influence on electricity access. The findings emphasize the importance of necessary interventions in order to overcome the rural-urban gaps in electricity access. In this connection, the decrease in rural-urban gaps in electricity access as revealed in the NFHS data of the last two rounds indicates the effectiveness of the SAUBHAGYA scheme. The findings also provide useful insights for different stakeholders and policymakers in designing other supporting strategies to bridge the rural-urban gaps in electricity access and facilitating inclusive development.