The Hindu Business Line : Exide to power Afghanistan with its wind, solar energy

EXIDE Industries is entering Afghanistan through the wind and solar energy route, a sector the company had entered two years ago. The entry has been fuelled by the insatiable appetite of the Afghans for Hindi films and the total absence of any power utility in that country.

Taking a cue from its two-month-old Afghan experience, the company is also planning an entry into Uzbekistan and a few other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, using a similar non-conventional energy route. The company, however, does not see any prospect of exporting its batteries to Afghanistan, as all such exports have to be made by air.

"We are looking at the non-conventional energy business seriously and in Afghanistan, we stumbled upon a huge market for exporting such solutions," Mr S. Chand, Director (automotive), told Business Line. Its subsidiary, Caldyne Automatics, which makes the electrical control equipment required for storing non-conventional energy, has a tie-up with the Arizona-based South West Power for the wind turbines.

Exide's Afghan story began soon after the company participated in a Confederation of Indian Industries delegation to Afghanistan. "Never before did we see an entire country run on petrol-driven generator sets," says a company official. What was equally amazing was the huge popularity enjoyed by Bollywood in the erstwhile land of the Taliban.

"Their love for Hindi films is unparalleled. It was totally surprising to discover that they hankered after power primarily to watch TV," said another senior company official. Anyone with a nose for business would have sensed an excellent opportunity to set up shop in the power sector.

But how would one go about it, considering that the conventional channels for doing business simply did not exist? As the source said: "There is practically no banking system in Afghanistan. We had no idea of how to do business in a country, which could not follow existing foreign trade practices."

But, of course, something had to be done. So, to test the waters, the company set up a 400-watt rooftop wind-solar hybrid power generation system in Kabul. Given that the average wind velocity in Afghanistan makes the country ideal for such systems to offer a dependable power supply, the Exide installation evoked a huge response.

Today, the company has tied up with a local businessman to act as distribution agent, and on offer are 400-watt rooftop wind power generation systems, coupled with bigger installations of 1,000 watts and 3,200 watts (each is backed by a solar generation system), targeted at high net-worth or institutional customers. The trade is done entirely on the "cash and carry" method.

While the rooftop system is ideal for an average household, to tap low-income Afghan `TV viewership' the company has launched `solar inverters.' Manufactured by Caldyne Automatics, the inverter is a `plug and play' solution and is sold as a consumer durable.

"It is a different kind of business opportunity altogether. Right now, we are not bothered by the quantum of exports to Afghanistan. We are taking a long-term view in that country," Mr Chand said.

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