Mera Gao Power

Ramjilal is the petty shop owner. Working after sunset is impossible for him. If only there was electricity, he could work longer and earn more money.

​Sunita struggles to make chappatis (flat bread) in the dark as her children sit huddled around the kerosene lamp.

​These aren’t isolated cases. There are thousands of young boys, girls, men and women in the villages of India who have the acumen to do better; desire and grit to work harder to make a better future for themselves and their family but paucity of electricity hinders them. Their work comes to a halt with sunset.

​As these villagers go about their daily chores, the evenings get quieter. Nothing much has changed here for years. With every sunset, over a hundred million people or roughly 60% of the people of Uttar Pradesh are engulfed in darkness. A kerosene wick lamp is the only source of light for the entire night. The villagers have embraced darkness as a way of life. Resigned to their fate of darkness and penury; dreaming of a brighter and happier future but with little hope of ever accomplishing.

​In 2011, a transformation took place. Mera Gao Power (MGP) stepped in to build, own, and operate solar powered micro grids in Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Sandeep Pandey, CEO of MGP explains the process. “Our village-level lighting facilities generate electricity through centrally located solar panels, the generated electricity in turn is stored into batteries which is then distributed to power LED lights and mobile phone chargers in customer households.”

MGP offers its customers 20% lower cost and higher quality lighting than kerosene— the primary source of night-time lighting for India’s off-grid households. MGP has brought services to over 20,000 households in more than 1,200 villages.  It provides off-grid services to a typical village for less than $1,000, making its lowest cost design the first commercially viable micro grid targeted at the rural poor.

​As a result of the quality indoor lighting by MGP, the families now enjoy additional benefits such as lesser expenditure and money saved on kerosene expenses; children are able to study in the evenings; parents are able to work and earn more income, and house air is cleaner. Other than this, it also has tremendous environmental benefits:

• The micro grids are renewable powered and replace dirty kerosene in customer households. Reduced kerosene consumption reduces carbon emissions. Removing kerosene from the household creates a safer environment for children who accidentally drink it.

• The company currently provides employment to 60 full time employees and 20 contract staff. The proposed investment will add the following jobs: 50 permanent, 2,000 man days for construction and 20 construction people for 6 months.

C4D Partners recognized the innovative value of MGP and supported it by facilitating investments. As a local solution with the potential to scale up,  MGP received techno-managerial support from C4D to amplify its reach, increase its employees, and expand itself by identifying more services such as mobile phone credit sales, tablet (media player) rentals, correspondence banking and solar home system sales and leasing, value added irrigation etc.

​Needless to say, Sitapur is now lit by inquisitive young minds that put in an hour or two of studies before retiring for the night.