All Indian villages now have electricity. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi told reporters that the final village in India to get electricity was the remote Leisang village in Manipur state. It was connected to the grid on Sunday. Electrification of India's villages was a big government promise. Mr Modi thanked everyone involved in the project. He said: "April 28, 2018 will be remembered as a historic day in the development...of India....We [kept a promise], due to which, the lives of...Indians will be [changed] forever. I am delighted that every single village...has...electricity."
Mr Modi promised to give 18,000 villages electricity for the first time. He said a village is electrified when it has basic power lines and 10 per cent of its houses and public places (including schools and health centres) have power. Mr Modi is happy, but many people say there is more work to be done. The World Bank says 200 million Indians still have no electricity. The "India Today" newspaper found that many villages lacked electricity. One villager told its reporters: "The darkness creates a big problem for the village as it is frequented by elephants."