NITI Aayog, Ministry of Power, Rockefeller Foundation and Smart Power India today launched the 'Electricity Access in India and Benchmarking Distribution Utilities' report.<br />''<br />''According to the report, 92 per cent of customers reported the overall availability of electricity infrastructure within 50 metres of their premises.<br />''<br />''87 per cent of the surveyed customers have access to grid-based electricity. The remaining 13 per cent either use non-grid sources or do not use any electricity at all.<br />''<br />''The hours of supply have improved significantly across the customer categories to nearly 17 hours per day.<br />''<br />''The report is based on a primary survey conducted across ten states, representing about 65 per cent of the total rural population of India and with a sample size of more than 25 thousand, including households, commercial enterprises and institutions.<br />''<br />''Speaking on the occasion, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said, the report highlights the benefits of government-led schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.<br />''<br />''He emphasized that the key recommendations provided in the report in the areas of policy and regulation, process improvement and infrastructure will be  utilized for improving the power distribution sector.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">The report underlines some best practices adopted by the better-performing electricity distribution utilities in India and provides key recommendations to enhance sustainable electricity access.</span><br />