NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Power on Saturday made it clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to switch off lights between 9:00 p.m to 9:09 pm on Sunday, April 5 does not include street lights or appliances like computers, TVs, fans, refrigerators and ACs.

"The appeal of the Prime Minister is to simply switch off the lights in their homes from 9 pm to 9.09 pm on the 5th of April. There is no call to switch off either street lights or appliances like Computers, TVs, Fans, Refrigerators and ACs in the homes. Only lights should be switched off," it clarified.

The statement further said the lights in hospitals and all other essential services like Public Utilities, Municipal Services, Offices, Police Stations, Manufacturing Facilities, etc will remain on. "All local bodies have been advised to keep the street lights on for public safety," read the statement.

Prime Minister's appeal on Friday met with criticism as well apprehensions that this may cause instability in the grid and fluctuation in voltage which may harm the electrical appliances.

However, the Ministry stated, "The Indian electricity grid is robust and stable and adequate arrangements and protocols are in place to handle the variation in demand."

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had said that Modi's call to switch off lights could cause the electrical grid to crash.

Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut had also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to switch off lights might lead to failure of power grid.