In an effort to bring India and Pakistan closer, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), in collaboration with LEAD Pakistan, the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) Pakistan and the Buksh Foundation, is launching a programme to promote clean energy options.

The programme, ‘Lighting a Million Lives’, will be launched in Pakistan on October 12-13, under which TERI intends to facilitate the access and use of solar lighting devices among Pakistan’s rural communities.

“The aim is to create a consensus in Pakistan in favour of a cross-border clean energy movement while at the same time cementing civil, political and cultural ties between India and Pakistan,” a TERI release said.

R.K. Pachauri, Director-General, TERI, said, “At present, Pakistan is facing a serious power problem. A large section of the population in Pakistan’s rural areas is deprived of energy supply. We believe that it is in the best interest of both countries to be able to work together and co-operate…. ”

After the conference on energy access, to be held in Islamabad, TERI plans to inaugurate a range of renewable technologies and facilities established by its researchers in the Pakistani village of Gah — the birthplace of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — on October 13, which has been adopted by TERI.

Ibrahim Hafiz Rehman, Director, Social Transformation Division, TERI, said, “We are essentially providing technical support to boost energy security in Gah. We have connected several houses through smart grids

and have set up 51 solar-based domestic lighting systems in the village since 2006. We have also installed 16 solar street lights and two additional solar water heater systems in Gah.”

The ‘Lighting a Billion Lives’ campaign has played a role in illuminating 382,750 households of rural India as well as in Africa, South Asia and South-East Asia, the release added.

>aditi.n@thehindu.co.in

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