Teri push for solar energy in districts

The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), under its "Lighting a Billion Lives" campaign is working in partnership with the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society's JEEViKA programme to make clean energy products affordable for local women-based self-help groups (SHGs) in select districts of Bihar.

Till date, the programme has helped over 50,000 households across Bihar by providing them access to solar home lighting systems (SHLS) and clean cooking stoves.

The fact came to the light during a programme by Teri - "Accelerating Rural Development in Bihar Through Enhancing Energy Access" here on Tuesday.

Established in 1974, Teri works for conducting research on sustainable development in India. It is committed to the application of thought that drives action in the direction of tackling climate change.

As regards Teri's initiative in Bihar, households spread across Gaya, Khagaria, Madhubani, Purnea and West Champaran have benefited. The programme aims to complement the government's vision of enriching rural livelihoods by providing reliable energy to every household. Under this model, 60 per cent of the funds are tapped from the savings of the SHGs of the JEEViKA programme, and the remaining 40 per cent is mobilised by Teri through grants and corporate social responsibility funds.

Delivering the inaugural speech, state energy minister Bijendra Yadav underlined the importance of renewable sources of energy and maintained that the future lies in optimising its uses.

He also spoke about the initiatives taken by the Bihar government to promote use of renewable sources of energy. "We are also working on a plan that entails setting up of solar plants on roofs of government buildings including schools," said the minister.

Speaking on the sidelines, Teri director general Ajay Mathur said: "The Teri-JEEViKA project demonstrates that a strong decentralised model, which brings together the state government agency, local communities and the private sector, can plug the energy gap that exists even in grid-connected villages."

Beneficiaries of the project from the districts where it is being implemented also took part in the programme.