Feature Article

Tucked away in the Barnawapara wildlife sanctuary of Chhattisgarh is a small village, Deba. The national power grid is yet to reach there. But there is no interruption in the scheduled power supply to its 75 households. While power cuts are frequent in grid-connected villages across the state, the only time Deba residents experienced a blackout since they started receiving electricity some seven years ago was in October last year.

Two states succeeded. Rest did not. The National Action Plan of Climate Change (NAPCC) envisages five per cent of total energy production every year from all states will be from renewable sources. But in the financial year ending March 2010, the achievement was of 3.9 per cent, majority of which came from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The gap is likely to increase as NAPCC’s target will rise by one per cent annually to touch 15 per cent by 2020.

Based on field studies in 7 cases rural renewable energy projects in Brandenburg (federal state of Germany) were analysed during an 18 month period (early 2009 to mid 2010).

It is no mean task to find a moneylender for a financially risky project. More so, if it is a high-investment, low-return project under the ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

National solar mission may get derailed as banks hesitate to give loans for its high-risk projects. It is no mean task to find a moneylender for a financially risky project. More so, if it is a high-investment, low-return project under the ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.