Electrifying India’s villages

News

Posted By:

Emma Frost

Communications Manager

 

Mumbai Reuters recently published an article stating that India had electrified all its villages, 12 days ahead of a deadline set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ‘The government considers a village electrified if it has basic electrical infrastructure and 10 percent of its households and public places including schools, local administrative offices and health centers have power.’

This is a brilliant achievement and a great start in increasing energy access, but there is still a long way to go.

One of the finalists for the 2018 Ashden Awards is Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA), working to install solar power to health centres and schools in some of India’s most rural villages. They are working with the departments of health and education to finance the project which is ensuring that villages are not only 10% connected, but that every household has access to light and phone charging.

Reliability is also still a big issue for more rural villages and CREDA is a great example of how using solar as a back-up, or even primary system, can dramatically increase reach and reliability for last-mile communities.

The theme for the upcoming SEforALL Forum in Lisbon this week, which our International team are attending, is ‘Leaving No One Behind’ – a timely reminder that we can always go further. Stay up to date and follow the seminars and events on Twitter.

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