Bijli Ghar to electrify villages in remote areas
India with all its financial and economic success has been unable to bridge the existing gap between the urban and rural India. Rural India and interiors regions in the heartland of India still struggle to have full access to modern energy services. Electricity cuts are rampant in metropolitan cities leave alone small towns and villages. The ever growing energy requirements of the country and falling supply has meant that remote areas have had no option but to embrace darkness. However all this may soon change as some innovative Indian companies are coming up with various innovative solutions to light up the Indian hinterland with renewable energy sources.
What is a Bijli Ghar?
Bijli Ghar is business model by Maitreya Group based out of Mumbai in collaboration with its technological partners at Kyrion Technologies Delhi has shown the way by offering a solar PV-based micro grid system providing clean energy to villages in Bihar. Bijli Ghar, the energy model is designed to operate for almost 25 years.
Bijli Ghar produces electricity using solar photovoltaic technology using a 1.5kWp solar PV array facility at a rooftop. The power generated by Bijli Ghar is sufficient for 50 households in a village illuminating 2 bulbs per house for a minimum of six hours each night. Villagers can also use charging points to charge their mobile phones using the power generated by Bijli Ghar. What’s even better is that Bijli Ghar is easy to operate and local youth are trained to maintain and manage the plant along with some non government organizations.
Chechar Village in Bihar has been the first beneficiary of Bijli Ghar
Chechar Village in Bihar has been the first beneficiary of Bijli Ghar brining in electricity to the un-electrified village. Chechar villagers who were using kerosene lamp are now using electricity developed by unique solar photovoltaic technology offering a 10W load to each village household.
Apart from being a technologically successful innovation, Bijli Ghar uses a self sustaining economic model. Bijli Ghar has minimum operational and maintenance making it possible for local technical supervision.
Poor villagers not having access to electricity in the past are requested to pay a nominal charge for the facility which allows them easy access to uninterrupted electricity. The charges which are as low as Rs. 70 per month are sufficient to sustain the technological up gradation and maintenance of Bijli Ghar.
Benefits of Bijli Ghar
Taking the CSR role to a new level all together, Maitreya Group has not only provided electricity to a village changing the lives of its residents forever but have also helped in cutting out excessive use of kerosene which has various health concerns especially for small children and elderly.
Energy experts have given the Bijli Ghar a big thumbs up as there is no doubt that renewable energy is going to be the key driver in the energy space. If renewable energy can be tapped and sustained in an efficient manner as shown by Bijli Ghar, Indian rural areas can become equal partners in the country’s overall growth story.
Maitreya Group
Maitreya Group of Companies, the brainchild behind the Bijli Ghar concept is a well known realty organization with presence in multiple Indian cities and towns. From building high end bungalows to shopping malls and residential apartments, Maitreya Group also focuses on innovation to help change the lives of the common people as underlined by its successful Bijli Ghar Project.
