Rebeca Grynspan, the Under Secretary General of the UNDP, April 2011
It is impossible to operate a factory, run a shop, grow crops or deliver goods to consumers without using some form of energy. Access to electricity is particularly crucial to human development as electricity is, in practice, indispensable for certain basic activities, such as lighting, refrigeration and the running of household appliances, and cannot easily be replaced by other forms of energy. Individuals’ access to electricity is one of the most clear and un-distorted indication of a country’s energy poverty status. The adjacent video is an introduction to the work of Selco Solar Pvt Limited (Selco), one of the world’s leading organisations working to provide electricity to households and businesses in India with no access to reliable electricity. We are proud to support the work of Selco through the Armstrong Energy Foundation, and are currently installing two micro-grids in the state of Karnataka with them.