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Indian Poor May Bear $2 Billion Clean-Energy Market, Study Says
2010-09-28 13:21:52.56 GMT
By Natalie Obiko Pearson
Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- A $2 billion-a-year market for
clean-energy products such as solar-powered lanterns may exist
among India's rural poor who want dependable, energy-efficient
devices, according to a bank-funded report.
The poor who live outside cities and comprise 60 percent of
the nation's 1.2 billion people already spend $4.8 billion a
year on fuels like firewood and dung for energy for lack of
better, more reliable alternatives, said the report supported by
the ICICI Foundation whose main donor is ICICI Bank Ltd.,
India's second-largest bank.
"If there are high-quality renewable products and services
that meet consumer demand available, there is a market for them,
even in the very poorest communities," said Saurabh Lall, a
research officer at the Washington-based World Resources
Institute, which helped conduct the study.
India is seeking to promote standalone renewable energy
projects, including 2,000 megawatts of decentralized solar
plants by 2022, to help plug gaps in its electricity grid.
One of three Indians lack access to electricity, a deficit
that must be closed to ensure the expansion of the world's
third-fastest growing major economy, the International Energy
Agency said on Sept. 22.
Companies supplying clean-energy alternatives to rural
communities report that sales have grown on average by 36
percent since 2004, the report said. The study surveyed 23
companies in India, including a local unit of BP Plc, which
distributes a smokeless "Oorja" cooker fuelled by pellets of
agricultural waste, and Envirofit, whose funders include Google
Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.
A shortage of power-generating capacity and other
infrastructure shaves 2 percentage points from growth, the
Finance Ministry estimates. The economy has expanded an average
8.5 percent in the last five years.
For Related News and Information:
India energy news: TNI NRG INDIA <GO>
Renewable energy, environment page: GREEN <GO>
Most-read alternative energy stories: MNI ALTNRG <GO>
--Editors: Todd White, Stephen Cunningham
To contact the reporter on this story:
Natalie Obiko Pearson in Mumbai at +91-22-6612-9107 or
npearson7@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Clyde Russell at +65-6311-2423 or crussell7@bloomberg.net.
