India lights future with efficient lamps.

• Author: Singh, Damandeep
• Position: Bachat Lamp Yojana project or Savings Program through Lamps - Brief article

India seeks to replace 400 million inefficient, incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs at a considerably reduced price to the consumer--and at the same time expects to avoid the emission of 40 million tons of carbon dioxide.

The Bachat Lamp Yojana (BLY) project ("Savings Program through Lamps") promises to lower the price of CFLs to 15 rupees (about US$0.33) each, instead of the current market price of 100 rupees. "Almost half the households in India will immediately benefit from the scheme, and as other areas get electrified, those villages will get added on," said Ajay Mathur, director general of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency.

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The project, which the United Nations approved on April 29...