Development Marketplace — 2006 Winners 

Read more about GEF collaboration with the Development Marketplace

May 10, 2006. 30 projects, recognized for their contribution to the global environment, have been selected as winners in a global competition, Development Marketplace 2006, held at the World Bank and co-sponsored by the GEF. The winners were chosen from 118 projects, drawn from 55 countries.

Among the winners:

100 Village Employment and Power Partnerships 

To provide rural villages in the very poor rural Bihar region of India with affordable access to electricity. This project will install biomass power plants. It will work with farmers to ensure the availability of biomass and the cultivation of crops on wastelands that would serve as bio-diesel for the plant. It will work with local micro-entrepreneurs to help them set up income-generating activities (rice mills, pumping for irrigation, briquette production, etc) that would maximize the use of this decentralized energy source.

See full details of this project

#648 100 Village Employment and Power Partnerships

Progress Reports                 

OBJECTIVE:  To provide rural villages in India with affordable access to electricity by constructing a decentralized supply mechanism integrated with an enterprise promotion initiative and service delivery system that would address the demand and supply side of energy usage.

RATIONALE:   The rural Bihar region of India is woefully poor.   Investments in industries remain low as the infrastructure is too weak to support such enterprises (electricity distribution services are almost nonexistent or rely on diesel generators with high operating costs and adverse environmental impact).  Furthermore, commercial financing is difficult to obtain, making investment capital a high premium.  The result is a stagnate economy with high unemployment rates throughout the region and ever-increasing migration to cities.

INNOVATION/EXPECTED RESULTS:  Through a comprehensive and innovative interlinking of demand and supply this project aims to set up an electrification program in 100 villages in rural Bihar that would help the development of the industrial sector.  To ensure supply, this project will install biomass power plants. It will work with farmers to ensure the availability of biomass and the cultivation of crops on wastelands that would serve as bio-diesel for the plant.  Congruently, to address demand, it will work with local micro-entrepreneurs to help them set up income-generating activities (rice mills, pumping for irrigation, briquette production, etc) that would maximize the use of this decentralized energy source.  Finally, the team will negotiate with commercial banks to provide the micro-entrepreneurs access to financing.

 12.05.2006 18:26