Contributed articles presented at workshop on "Governance in Rural Electricity" on December 15-16, 2004, in Ānand, India, as part of the Silver Jubilee Symposium of the Institute of Rural Management.

More than 1.3 billion people worldwide lack access to electricity. Although extension of the electricity grid remains the preferred mode of electrification, off-grid electrification can offer a solution to such cases. Rural Electrification through Decentralised Off-grid Systems in Developing Countries provides a review of rural electrification experiences with an emphasis on off-grid electrification and presents business-related aspects including participatory arrangements, financing, and regulatory governance. Organized in three parts, Rural Electrification through Decentralised Off-grid Systems in Developing Countries provides comprehensive coverage and state-of-the art reviews which appraise the reader of the latest trend in the thinking. The first part presents the background information on electricity access, discusses the developmental implications of lack of electricity infrastructure and provides a review of alternative off-grid technologies. The second part presents a review of experiences from various regions (South Asia, China, Africa, South East Asia and South America). Finally, the third part deals with business dimensions and covers participatory business models, funding challenges for electrification and regulatory and governance issues. Based on the research carried out under the EPSRC/ DfID funded research grant for off-grid electrification in South Asia, Rural Electrification through Decentralised Off-grid Systems in Developing Countries provides a multi-disciplinary perspective of the rural electrification challenge through off-grid systems. Providing a practical introduction for students, this is also a key reference for engineers and governing bodies working with off-grid electrification.

Decentralized energy systems paradigm calls for – a) evidence-based policy for local resource assessment, and b) context-specific energy needs assessment for- overcoming ‘barriers’ to decentralized energy systems in India. The pristine bedrock of the book comprises theoretical underpinnings of empiricism, behaviourism and realism. These concepts find their extension through inter-disciplinarity, and the mixed methods approach adopted for understanding spaces and cultures of energy consumption. Demand side management in energy sector entails-migration from a target-based (TB) approach towards an evidence-based (EB) approach for designing context-based policies in respect of energy demand, and an associated policy shift from a techno-economic regime towards a socio-technical regime embedded in ‘appropriate’ contexts. “Prosumerism holds the key to democratization of energy systems in India.”

Sarmila Bose examines rural electrification in India in the context of the technological transformation of rural economies in developing countries. The book investigates rural electrification policy in India at three levels: the level of the state, the household, and the individual; and makes clear recommendations for policy change at each level.

As developing countries climb the ladder of economic and social development, providing electricity to their poorest citizens becomes a social imperative, but the distribution of electricity in poverty-stricken regions is frequently more complex than simply installing electrical towers. This study focuses on rural electrification in India; how politics interacts with technical and economic factors in the design and implementation of the government's electrification schemes. It finds that entrenched political interests, developed during Britain's colonial era and cultivated in the years since independence, have historically been more interested in rent-seeking and treating electricity as a political favor than in developing electrical infrastructure. India's unique legacy of colonial, distributive, and bureaucratic politics have resulted in a patronage-oriented political economy that affects the relationship between citizens and would-be electrical providers and also has direct impacts on investment and development in the electricity sector.This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.I. The Political Economy of Rural Electrification in India: An Overview * A. Major Research Question and Findings * B. Significance of the Research Question * C. Literature Review * D. Argument and Study Organization * II. The Technical Dimensions of Rural Electrification in Developing Countries * A. Grid Scheme * B. Non-Grid Scheme * C. South Africa's Electrification Experience: A Comparative Base Line * D. Conclusion * III. The Distributive Politics of Electrification in India * A. Colonialism and Independence * B. Post-Independence Distributive Politics * C. The Evolution of Electrification Programs in India * 1. Kutir Jyothi Program (KYP) * 2. Rural Electricity Supply Technology Mission and the Electricity Act * 3. Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) * 4. Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) * 5. Conclusion * IV. Conclusions and Implications * A. Barriers to Electrification * B. Key FindingsWhat explains the patterns of rural electrification in India? This study examines the politics of rural electrification in India, including an assessment of the extent to which corruption and colonial roots played a role, in order to provide the context surrounding the technological/engineering, political, and economic factors that determine how and where electrification is implemented. It finds that entrenched political interests, developed during Britain's colonial era and cultivated in the years since independence, have historically been more interested in rent-seeking and treating electricity as a political favor than in developing electrical infrastructure. India's unique legacy of colonial, distributive, and bureaucratic politics have resulted in a patronage-oriented political economy that affects the relationship between citizens and would-be electricity providers and also has direct impacts on investment and development in the electricity sector.