As per latest Census 2011 data, one third of Indian Households still lack access to electricity. This is in spite of the tremendous progress in household electrification achieved through centralized grid extension under the RGGVY in the past few years. While grid extension needs to be continued, an important area which merits attention is that of Distributed Renewable Electricity (DRE) systems, (typically a few kWs to a few hundred kWs capacity). Such systems if implemented effectively for specific areas (where grid extension is not techno-economically feasible or where grid supply is limited) can have a large positive impact of local development. However, ground experiences of the DRE sector shows that the picture is far from satisfactory in terms of the effectiveness of the projects/programs. This is largely because (a) a significant number of DRE systems are non-functional on account of a variety of reasons, (b) cost of generation is high and so is the subsequent consumer tariff, (c) scale of the DRE program is limited to available Govt subsidies and donor driven programs in spite of several legal and policy provisions, (d) variety of business models in vogue with weak implementation and Monitoring and Verification framework etc.

In this context Prayas Energy Group, along with the National Centre for Photovoltaic Research & Education (NCPRE) and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB) organized a structured dialogue on the topic “Policy and Regulatory Interventions required for supporting Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) Projects”. The objective of this event was to share emerging policy and regulatory options and new business models for the effective and large scale deployment of DRE. The presentations made during the event along with summary report of the discussion can be downloaded below.