In Assam, villages in 23 districts are proposed to be electrified under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) scheme. Electrification in 16 districts is to be implemented by State Electricity Board while seven districts by the Power Grid Corporation of India. The Centre has already provided approval for implementation of the programme in 13 districts of the State. According to official sources, electrification of 7249 new villages have been completed under the programme providing free electric connections to 7.38 lakh below poverty line households. The scheme has been launched to fulfill the commitment of the National Common Minimum Programme of the UPA Government completing the household electrification in next five years and modernizing the rural electricity infrastructure.2145 remote villages in the state which cannot be electrified through grid-are to be covered through the means of non-conventional source of energy. State Electricity Board, Assam Energy Development Agency and the Forest Department have taken up plans jointly to implement the programme in those remote villages. 700 such villages have already been brought under Solar Lighting System in 19 districts. The State Government has also proposed to set up a five hundred megawatt thermal generation plant at Margherita in Upper Assam to meet the shortfall of power ranging 250 megawatt to 300 megawatt against the demand of around 1,200 megawatt during the summer peak load hours. The annual growth rate of the State’s power demand is in the range of 8 per cent to 10 per cent.