UP Has The Highest Potential For Livelihoods With DRE: CEEW Study

Union MNRE Minister RK Singh released the CEEW report recently in New Delhi.

A latest report by the Council of Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) claimed that Uttar Pradesh has the greatest impact opportunity in livelihood by deploying Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) solutions. The report was recently released by the Minister of New and Renewable Energy RK Singh in a national event in New Delhi recently. 

Union MNRE Minister RK Singh released the CEEW report recently in New Delhi

Following Uttar Pradesh are West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka. The report said that with the highest state-level population in UP, the state could create 55.87 lakh livelihoods with the help of DRE solutions. It pegged the market potential of DRE in UP at Rs 68,113 crore. 

The report said that the relative market for each DRE livelihood technology varied across states. For example, micro solar pumps have the highest market in West Bengal, whereas solar dryers have the highest market in Maharashtra. 

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The report said that only 12 popular market-ready DRE technologies like solar pumps, solar dryers, solar-powered silk reeling machines, biomass-powered cold solar storages, and others could impact 37 million livelihoods in India, generating revenue worth around USD 50 billion for enterprises manufacturing DRE-based livelihood technologies. 

“DRE livelihoods pose a massive impact and market opportunity, but a difficult one to realize. The report’s discerning view will help financiers, investors, entrepreneurs, and impact seekers prioritize high-impact and highly-feasible opportunities,” Abhishek Jain, Fellow and Director at Powering Livelihoods at CEEW, said. 

The report of the energy think-tank said that out of these 37 million livelihoods, solar pumps (both higher capacity and micro-pumps), followed by solar-powered vertical fodder growing units and solar dryers alone, can collectively impact 27 million livelihoods in India. It also said that the discounted payback period for the 12 mature technologies ranges from eight months to 99 months. 

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“A broad positive association exists between the product’s unit cost and the discounted payback period. Costlier DRE livelihood technologies have longer payback periods. However, there are notable exceptions, such as solar-powered looms and solar-powered small horticulture processors,” the report said. 

It also said that over a 15-year investment horizon, the DRE variants of such technologies become much more attractive than their grid alternatives. “So, if an end user is considering a business horizon of 10+ years, the DRE livelihood technologies could be economically more attractive, even if the grid is reliable,” the report said.