In a bid to promote clean technology and use of new and renewable energy, the Central government is promoting startups that offer solar solutions. In this direction, Union Minister for Power, and New & Renewable Energy R K Singh hinted at the launch of a new scheme.

R K Singh said, “Our government is coming out with a new scheme for distributed applications of renewable energy (RE). The scheme is expected to benefit lakhs of families across the country. We have seen the potential of grid-scale solar power; India will scale up distributed applications of renewable energy for livelihoods. Just like we have a large programme on rooftop solar and solar irrigation, we will create a large programme for DRE livelihoods.”

Singh further said that the government is planning to make DRE affordable livelihood equipment. One aspect of this scheme is that it will be tied up with banks. If a family wants to own a solar dryer, they should be able to get it financed from the banks – we will work towards it.

The minister released two new reports by CEEW and Villgro, which show that clean technologies have the potential to impact 37 million livelihoods in India’s agriculture and textile sectors and translate into a market opportunity worth almost INR 4 lakh crore (about USD 50 billion).

The ninister also launched Suraj Ka Gola – a solar anthem produced by CEEW and Villgro. Produced in collaboration with the band Maati Baani and Ashish Kulkarni of Indian Idol fame, the song celebrates how solar energy is transforming lives and livelihoods in rural India.

“With a programme like Powering Livelihoods, we are taking this clean energy transition to the masses and contributing to their incomes and livelihoods. By deploying more than 11,000 such technologies across India since the pandemic, we have shown the impact of clean-energy-powered livelihood technologies on enhancing and diversifying people’s incomes. In a country where a million youth reaches the working-age population every month, we need to aggressively support jobs and livelihoods.” said Abhishek Jain, Fellow and Director of Powering Livelihoods, CEEW.

The reports found that clean-tech-powered technologies offer enormous opportunities in Uttar Pradesh, followed by West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka. But the relative market for each livelihood technology varies across states. For example, micro solar pumps have the highest market in West Bengal, whereas solar dryers have the highest market in Maharashtra.