So-lar, So Good: Harnessing the Sun to Light Up Rural Indian Entrepreneurship
Energy generation and distribution is a huge problem in rural India. Even after sustained government efforts to electrify rural households, there still remain enormous gaps in coverage. In fact, this isn’t a problem specific to energy at all. Infrastructure of all kinds is lacking in rural areas — from energy to sanitation to education. This also presents an enormous opportunity however: by investing in rural infrastructure, one can both create jobs in rural areas as well as solve various public problems. This is precisely what is happening in the solar energy sector.
The solar energy sector in India is a domain of free competition. While there are larger corporations like Adani in the marketplace, smaller startups like MYSUN and Zunroof are also equally important. Further, there is a differentiation along the lines of domestic and international firms as well with many international companies targeting the vast consumer base of India. At the same time private players are redefining what it means to sell a product in the context of rural India. Frontier Markets is one such company.
The India based firm, Frontier Markets, is a solar energy startup like no other. In order to appeal to a consumer base of largely depressed incomes in the Indian countryside, the firm utilises a model they call ‘rural entrepreneurship’. They finance women from local villages — called Solar Sahelis — and help them sell solar energy products. These products appeal not only to the energy needs of rural consumers but also solve problems like heating, and cooking, while providing a means of employment for rural Indian women.
A similar model has also been developed by Indian research institutions like TERI and SEWA. Studies found that in order to create long-term employment for women in rural areas, they must not only be made part of existing supply chains but also empowered to run their own businesses. This led to a push to create rural women entrepreneurs focused again around the sales of solar energy products.
The reason solar energy is the chosen vehicle for the upliftment of women in rural areas is twofold. First, rural areas in India get a lot of sunlight. Utilising this sunlight to meet energy needs is a no-brainer. Second, now that a drive for electrification is being pursued in rural areas, it only makes sense to begin with renewable energy, rather than to first install obsolete and outdated coal power plants and then upgrade them to solar methods.
Unfortunately, the covid-19 pandemic has halted these efforts in their tracks, shutting down rural supply chains, and further suppressing demand across the countryside. However, in the future, as the economy begins to recover from the shock of the coronavirus, projections for rural entrepreneurship remain positive. And you can bet that Solar Sahelis will be a part of it.
