Electricity access for geographically disadvantaged rural communities—technology and policy insights

The purpose of this paper is to weigh the issues and options for increasing electricity access in remote and geographically challenged villages in interior Rajasthan, the desertstate in Western India where power sector reforms are currently underway. By first providing an overview of reforms and various electrification policy initiatives in India, the paper then analyzes the specific problems as studied at the grass-roots level with respect to rural electricity access and the use of off-grid renewables. Finally, it discusses interventions that could facilitate access to electricity by suggesting a sequential distributed generation (DG)-based approach, wherein consecutive DG schemes—incorporating the requisite technological, financial, and institutional arrangements—are designed depending on the developmental requirements of the community. In essence, this approach fits under the broader need to understand how the three “Rs”— rural electrification (the process), power sector reforms (the catalyst), and the use of renewable energy technologies (the means)—could potentially converge to meet the needs of Indiaʹs rural poor.