Power like solar, can be so decentralized and customized, that it is far more economical for end-user and supplier because one would take only what one needs. In Karnataka, five years back they generated 1.6 units of power to give one unit. Still they charge you for one unit – castration and production wise. So even if for a bit of electricity, solar makes so much sense in India.
For example, there are 20 million street vendors in the country. In Delhi, a street vendor pays Rs15-20 everyday for an incandescent light. We do not pay Rs600 a month for a single light, neither do we pay Rs2,400 a month for four lights. That means poor people pay more for energy. It is the same case with Bangalore street vendors who pay Rs15 every evening for a kerosene lamp they use for four hours whereas solar costs Rs5-6, that too for five to six hours. It is a grave reality that the poor end up paying more for energy. Surely, this needs far more serious intervention.
You have helped rural society by making cheaper electricity available. How is the government supporting you?
In terms of central and state governments, the biggest plus is that they are not interfering. I have seen it in other countries like Dominican Republic where the government suddenly appeared on the scene, subsidized it, and spoiled the whole programme. However, the government can help by replicating our work on a mass scale. For that, we need many similar social enterprises and government policies that can creating caps in financial institutions, in much the same way as they did for agricultural financing 40-50 years ago.
Put a similar cap so that at least 5% loans are on sustainable energy for end-users and 2% for entrepreneurs who want to do the supply chain in rural areas. Getting working capital from FIIs is tough because they are unsure about the viability of the project. I was fortunate since my IIT bailed me out. Wonder how many of us with ideas minus that tag would get a chance to pitch their value added services/ products?
You go to the people or the people come to you?
In villages where we are very well established, people come to us. In new villages, we definitely spend considerable time reaching out to them. Most of our employees are locals and we do not transfer them from village to village. It is important to earn their trust and to understand their needs and constraints.
We found that a priority for villagers was to have their cycles, pumps, motorcycles repaired in service shops. The first thing we did in 1995-96 was to first create service centres hiring local youth and promised them service within 24 hours. This has been a tough call but we have managed so far. Our technicians are the backbone of the company. Some of them have been with me for 10 years, they can earn five times the salary outside, but it is their conviction that keeps them here.
In order to survive we also realized that we had to change our style of service and the fact that we were too much into lighting. Secondly, when we are into income generation we need to be more critical. Then you realize how important lighting is and people invest their life savings to get it. When the policy makers say solar is expensive, I feel it is so paradoxical since they have not seen the real India.