IFC Launches Off-Grid Lighting Program for
Two Million People in Rural India
New Delhi, India, June 4,
2012—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, in
partnership with the governments of the United States and Italy, is launching a
program aimed at providing safe, clean and affordable off-grid lighting to two
million people living in rural India over the next three years.
The program will develop the private
off-grid lighting market in India across the entire value chain: manufacturing,
distribution, supply chain management and access to finance. Addressing barriers
to scaling up solutions based on renewable energy, the program will support
companies in market assessment and all other aspects of business planning. In
line with IFC’s climate change strategy, an estimated 64,000 tons of carbon
emissions will be avoided as a result of this initiative.
“The private sector must come up with an
affordable and reliable lighting solution for rural India, and this would be the
cornerstone of the initiative aimed at providing energy access to the masses,”
said G.B. Pradhan, Secretary of Government of India’s Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy. Recognizing the risk of inferior quality products flooding the
market, the program will work with the ministry, and develop international
quality assurance benchmarks on which to base local testing
capacity.
Jonathan Pershing, Deputy Special Envoy for
Climate Change of the U.S. Department of State, which is co-funding the program
with technical support from the U.S. Department of Energy, said, "This program
has enormous potential to transform the market for off-grid energy solutions and
bring affordable and quality climate-friendly lighting devices to those who
don't yet have access to electricity.” The Italian Ministry for Environment,
Land and Sea, the other sponsor, is aiding this program to fight energy
poverty and improve public health for the most vulnerable sections, women
and children.
An estimated 400 million people in India
have no access to energy, and 94 percent of them live in rural areas. Another
420 million people have minimal grid supply, driving them to expensive,
inefficient and hazardous fuel-based lighting. India spends an estimated $2.2
billion annually on kerosene for lighting, showing the large market potential
for off-grid lighting.
“We aim to catalyze the market for
affordable, clean and quality off-grid energy products and services through this
program, and emphasize the need for a flexible, long-term approach,” said Thomas
Davenport, IFC Director for South Asia. “The program will build on the successes
of a joint IFC-World Bank Lighting Africa program that reached 2.5 million
off-grid people.”
Despite the huge population cut off from the
power grids in India, there is a scarcity of commercially successful business
models for alternative lighting systems. For example, only about 4 million solar
home lighting products have been sold until now. IFC aims to target this
opportunity by linking consumers to the lighting appliance companies and
renewable energy mini-grid solutions.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group is the largest global
development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help
developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment,
providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing
capital in the international financial markets. In fiscal 2011, amid economic
uncertainty across the globe, we helped our clients create jobs, strengthen
environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities—all while
driving our investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion.
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