Indian Approaches to Energy Access

Almost 77 million households in India were living without electricity in 2011 and more than 836 million people do not have access to modern cooking fuels. Such a situation continues to exist despite several initiatives and policies to support rural energy efforts by the government. This paper examines the trends of rural energy programs in India and attempts to capture comprehensively the developments in rural electrification and access to modern cooking energies. The paper highlights specific challenges on technical, financial, regulatory and institutional aspects that are hindering rural energy access in India and lists out the key lessons from the energy access initiatives in India. It finds that successful outcomes require, among others, an ecosystem of innovation beyond “physical access”, synchronization of energy provision and development, and a structured model for rural energy delivery.?