In the last decade, rural Bihar has witnessed a steep increase in coverage and supply of grid-connected electricity.

Between 2014 to 2019, the Central Generating Station had doubled its power allocation to Bihar from 1918 MW to 3709 MW, thus contributing to increased access to grid-connected electricity. As a result, while only 60% of rural Bihar were living in households with grid-connected electricity in 2015-16, in 2019-20, the coverage increased to 96.3%.

Besides improved coverage, the electricity supply in rural Bihar has become more reliable. While even a few years back, power outages for a longer duration of time were quite common in rural Bihar, the state reported 21.83 hours of electricity supply per day in 2019.

Due to this transition, the demand for off-grid solar energy products at the household level has decreased

One of our recent research studies covering 16 villages across 2 districts in Bihar revealed that the demand for off-grid solar energy products has reduced in the last 5 years. A leading multinational company manufacturing and distributing off-grid solar lighting products shared with us, “We are aware of the limited demand in Solar Energy products due to the changing energy access landscape and are diversifying into products to deliver current needs of the rural consumers”. From our research, we observed a family from rural Bihar currently uses solar lamps only when there is a 2-3 hour power outage in the evening or a continuous electricity supply interruption due to thunderstorms. However, catering to only these use cases may not be sustainable for businesses.

So, how should solar energy businesses respond, and what are the current opportunities they can explore in rural Bihar?

Map where else in the rural ecosystem can off-grid or mini-grid solar energy work despite increased access to grid-connected electricity

Create a sector wise framework for agriculture, livelihoods, WASH, Health, Education and map business opportunities where your energy solutions can create impact.

 Ample Scope in Agriculture and Agri allied Livelihoods

Through the Bihar State Government’s Saur Kranti Sinchai yojana (Solar Energy Irrigation Scheme) smallholder farmers can get up to 75% of subsidy on solar pumps and that creates a huge opportunity for businesses providing solar-powered irrigation solutions.

For instance, Claro Energy, which offers solar-powered water pumping solutions to meet irrigation and drinking water needs in off-grid rural areas has been piloting an “irrigation-as-a-service” business model in Bihar through solar-powered technologies. On the ground, this is operationalized through mobile or stationary mini-grids and has the potential to reduce irrigation costs for the farmers by up to 50%. Through its technology, Claro Energy is also powering multiple rural livelihoods like cold storage, honey processing, milk chilling, oil expelling, rice hulling, water treatment and spice grinding.

Opportunities to create Impact in Education

Poor access to energy in schools have a direct correlation with student attrition. Additionally, diesel generator backups are expensive and financially unsustainable for schools. Solar businesses can explore commissioning mini-grid backups for schools where the electricity supply is unreliable.

Students in a private school in Derni Bazaar of Bihar were getting distracted from their studies when the school was facing frequent power cuts. Due to lack of proper illumination and excessive heat in the cramped classrooms, evening sessions from 3 to 6 pm used to go empty. In 2018, Solar Power Initiatives saw an impact opportunity and set up a mini-grid to arrest power disruptions. Today, the attendance of students has increase and getting confidence from the continuous energy access, the school has started smart classrooms as well.

Instances where WASH has leveraged Solar Power

Tara Urja has been providing access to affordable clean drinking water in remote areas of Bihar through solar-powered RO (reverse osmosis) plants as a franchisee of Piramal Sarvajal. To execute this, Tara Urja develops local “water micro-entrepreneurs” by providing access to training and assistance in acquiring customers through awareness campaigns. Each solar-powered RO station can serve around 250 regular customers providing them clean drinking water at INR 1 per litre.

Powering Micro-entrepreneurship through Solar

Under the Smart Power for Rural Development (SPRD) programme, TARA, a Delhi based social enterprise, has been successfully able to demonstrate Microenterprise Development (MeD). The programme improves the livelihoods of micro-entrepreneurs through solar power in Bihar and UP by replacing expensive processes, reducing drudgery and minimising unproductive hours due to lack of electricity. Through the program TARA has been able to impact a range of micro-entrepreneurs who runs beauty parlours, milk chilling units, small production units, water treatment units, small eateries, and the list goes on. The program also has a special focus on including and developing women micro-entrepreneurs.

The above is an indicative list of opportunities primarily in Bihar which solar businesses can explore, analyse and execute in their own ways. However, we believe there are a range of such opportunities in other parts of the country from which we can learn and replicate.