Opinion | Electricity key to a nation’s development

In the 1980s, in the western Odisha town of Balangir, where I grew up, less than 10% households in the district (by the same name) had electricity access. Even as I started working as a consultant in Odisha’s power sector reform project in the 1990s, less than 30% households were electrified in the eastern Indian states of Bihar, Assam, West Bengal and Odisha.

So, when Mint first reported this seemingly innocuous news on 28 April 2018, I was overwhelmed. “All Indian villages will now have access to electricity. The last village to be brought on the national power grid was Leisang village of Manipur at 5.30pm today,” said the news report.

A seminal moment in the journey of independent India, the significance of this achievement was not lost on anyone.