India’s energy access challenges have come down significantly in the last two decades, due to the concerted efforts by national and state governments. Though significant progress has been seen on the electrification of willing households, gaps still exist. Access to energy runs along the fault lines of poverty and inequality: those who are unable to pay for electricity rely on less optimum fuels such as traditional biomass or kerosene lamps. A recent study by Smart Power India (SPI) titled ‘Electricity Access in India: Benchmarking Distribution Utilities’ points out that lack of adequate electricity infrastructure is a major reason why a larger number of electricity customers have not been able to connect to the national grid. As a result, institutional customers such as hospitals, farms, schools, and skilling centres are forced to invest in expensive and polluting diesel generators to enjoy uninterrupted power supply, because when available, the grid is also unreliable.
