ABB has extended its Access to Electricity rural electrification program to Rajasthan in western India, following its successful launch in another remote location in southern Tanzania.
The project – based on public-private partnerships – has brought together ABB, the state government of Rajasthan and an NGO to provide power to desert hamlets. The program started with providing one hamlet with power generated by solar panels, and has been extended to four more hamlets covering 500 households.
The hamlets’ inhabitants who are mainly tailors can now work longer and earn more, and their children can also study at night.
In ABB’s original Access to Electricity project in a village in Tanzania, electrification has led to economic, social and environmental gains over the past two years.
A total of 15 businesses, including a guest house, food stores and clothes shops have sprung up in the village, compared to three prior to electrification. Other recent advances include:
- 25 new homes underscoring economic gains and local immigration
- More homes connected to the mini-grid, based on the diesel generator donated by ABB, and a new water pump
- Children who are able to study after dark are passing school exams in increasing numbers
- Training on limiting hunting and sustainable logging
ABB partners with the global conservation organization WWF and local authorities in the project.