Electrification of remote villages in Assam (India): Issues and case studies

Rural electrification in India has received considerable attention and funding lately. However, these efforts are often disorganized, and do not consider the full set of locally available resources. This study presents our analysis for Assam, a Northeastern state in India, which has more than 2000 (or, 25%) of un-electrified villages. Our site visits, discussions, research and analysis spanning over a year, show that it is possible to efficiently combine local resources and distribution network extension using SWER, to electrify many of these villages at a fraction of a cost of the current policy measures using solar home lighting systems. We also emphasise the need to customize the solution for different areas given the variation in local resources among other things. The sample projects we have selected are currently being considered for pilot projects, to be rolled out throughout the state and possibly other states.