Sunday, May 20, 2007

Solar power through micro credit

Reuters reports that an NGO run by Yunus, Grameen Shakti, is offering solar lighting equipment in rural Bangladesh, with financing through micro credit.

The solar lighting system costs between 25,000 taka ($360) to 65,000 taka ($940). About 70% of Bangladesh households are without electricity.

A similar project, fronted however by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is happening in India. Here, UNEP provides grants that reduces the cost of financing of the equipment to the end users, in cooperation with two leading Indian public sector banks - Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank. More details on the project are available here.

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