PROBLEM AREA
India has set itself an ambitious goal of achieving high-quality electricity supply for all households by 2019. While decent progress has been made in increasing the number of households covered by grid, the quality and reliability of electricity service to rural households is still dismal. There are still thousands of villages where grid connectivity can’t reach, and where it does reach the power supply is erratic or inadequate. For households, this means staying plunged in darkness for days on end. For farmers, this means that they have to look for alternative, more reliable, sources of energy to power their irrigation needs. More often than not, they turn to the expensive and polluting option of diesel. Despite being more reliable, the high cost of diesel limits the scope of farmers’ cultivation efforts. Needless to say, diesel adds to the degradation of the environment.
Unreliable electricity or simply a lack of electrification can lead to a lack in employment opportunities, which eventually leads to migration, over-dependence on urban resources and the urban economy. Even children’s education gets hampered, and entrepreneurship opportunities don’t get to see the light of day. The desired progress never happens.
