Solar power opens the door to banking for rural Indians

Going to the bank in his home village in western India used to be a slow, frustrating process for Kiran Patil, as frequent power cuts – sometimes lasting for days – turned what should have been a quick errand into a lengthy ordeal.

The 59-year-old farmer often had to wait for hours in line at RBL Bank NSE 0.88 %, his local branch in the village of Aitawade Budruk, or abandon his transaction and return the next day, wasting time he should have been spending cultivating his crops.