New Delhi: The government on Wednesday said power will not be provided free of cost to any category of consumers under the recently launched Saubhagya scheme, which aims to provide electricity to all.

However, under the scheme, the poor families will be provided electricity connections free of cost, said the frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the scheme released on Wednesday by the power ministry. According to the document, other families will pay Rs500 only, which shall be recovered by the distribution companies/power departments in 10 instalments along with electricity bills.

The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday with an ambition of providing electricity connections to all 4 crore left-out families by December 2018.

The document also explained that with the inclusion of 4 crore households in the electricity network, there will be requirement of additional power of about 28,000 MW, considering an average load of 1 KW per household and average uses of load for 8 hours in a day.

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