Karnataka mulls mandatory use of CFL bulbs

BANGALORE - Use of compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs in all households in Karnataka may be made mandatory as part of measures to reduce power consumption, state energy minister Shobha Karandlaje said Monday.

“We have decided that use of CFL bulbs in households in the state should be made compulsory,” she said at a function here to launch a campaign to save power.

The CFL bulbs consume 80 percent less power than incandescent bulbs, she said.

Karandlaje said that to encourage people to go for CFL bulbs, they will be sold at Rs.15 each, with the government subsidising their prices.

Officials of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company would go to each house in the city and sell four CFL bulbs at Rs.15 each.

“The families will have to hand over four incandescent bulbs to these officials,” Karandlaje said.

Launching the campaign “Belaku Yojane” (Light Programme), Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said his government would come out with measures to ensure all households in the state use CFL bulbs by September this year.

He said: “We need to educate people to go for CFL bulbs. The manufacturers, government employees and women’s organisations would be involved in formulating the programmes,” the chief minister said.

Karnataka is a power-deficit state and frequent power cuts, particularly in the summer months of April-May, have become a norm for several years.

The state needs around 7,200 MW of power daily, but the supply is 6,000 MW. The deficit is being met by purchasing power from energy-surplus states.