Solar off-grid lighting in India
Student name: Ms Shruti Motiwal
Guide: Dr Manipadma Datta
Year of completion: 2013
Host Organisation: International Finance Corporation, New Delhi
Abstract: About 800 million people in Asia live in a state of near darkness, coping with unreliable or
nonexistent or no access to electricity on a daily basis. There is a great need for clean,
sustainable and affordable products to bring light to these households. Modern ogg grid
lighting has emerged with the ascent of solar energy, battery and LED technology. There is
strong demand for off-grid consumers in Asia for reliable, clean cost effective alternatives to
fuel based lighting , in particular the kerosene lantern.
Given this scenario, this project provides an overview of the off grid lighting market in India
and analyzes the characteristics of investors and industry players to make real and necessary
impact by serving communities without access to reliable electricity. Besides, the project also
covers the typology of solar products available in Indian market, Market Analysis,
Developing a Sustainable Business Model for off grid lighting and Role of Government in
Solar off grid market.
The major findings of this research could be summarized that the solar lighting market in
India is highly fragmented with large chunk that remains untapped. Besides, the offerings in
solar lighting are not standardized and often same products are sold under different bands
which lead to cannibalization. Awareness for such products is low in rural market which is
further complemented with unstructured finance options. The demand for such products
remains low due to which big players do not enter the market easily whereas the SMEs which
want to enter this market are not supported with appropriate policies and funds.
Given scenario presents the opportunity for investors and industry players to make a real and
necessary impact by serving communities without access to reliable electricity
