The Hindu Business Line : `Solar power will turn out to be best bet'

HIGHLIGHTING the business potential that exists for the private sector in solar electrification systems, especially with regard to employment generation in rural India, Mr Gon Chaudhuri, Director, West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WEBREDA), said here that solar power and other forms of non-conventional energy will contribute to nearly 10 per cent of the country's total energy needs by 2012.

Fossil fuels may become costlier for the rural poor if subsidies on kerosene and diesel are removed, and solar power may then be the only answer.

He visualised a future scenario of increased dependence on renewable sources of energy, given the global movement to reduce green house gases and shift to non-fossil-based fuel sources. Solar power can easily be reached to the remotest rural areas, which fall outside the conventional grid system because of the land terrain, he pointed out.

Participating in an interactive session organised by Environ Energy-Tech Service Ltd, Mr Chaudhuri said huge private entrepreneurship can be developed by spreading the message of solar lighting systems (distributed power generation) in villages throughout the country, particularly in eastern India, which accounts for 50 per cent of the total 80 lakh households in India which still do not get basic electricity.

Pointing out that the WEBREDA was now working closely with as many 17 West Bengal Government approved companies/agencies involved in solar lighting systems, in districts such as Midnapore and Purulia, he said, on average, over and above the subsidy provided, a rural beneficiary may need to spend just Rs 10,000 annually to have his entire household electrified.

He felt if the village community can be involved in a big way, even street lighting and power can be organised cost-effectively through solar systems.

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