Municipal Financing for Renewable Energy in Homes - A Model for India

With solar water heaters becoming mandatory for new apartment complexes in Bangalore and parts of Karnataka State in India and similar laws on the horizon in several states (though nothing is really likely to happen until the General Elections are over in May) there is certain to be an explosion in the demand for some attempts at solving India's chronic power shortage problem. I have been a big supporter of the Karnataka law and have also been vocal about the immense potential that this opens up for entrepreneurs who wish to come up with useful solutions that address this problem and the new regulations.

Today's New York Times has this entry on a very interesting Municipal Financing solution being offered by cities in California, the USA's most indebted state and one which has major infrastructure and other problems - just like Karnataka State where Bangalore is the capital has in India: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/science/earth/15solar.html The concept of offering municipal financing by allowing deductions in property taxes over a period of time to offset the cost of installing renewable energy systems is an excellent one. India already has laws which allow businesses to write off the cost of renewable systems to the extent of 100% depreciation in just one year and both the Central Government and several state governments waive sales taxes on these products. If an incentive in reduced property taxes were offered, this would certainly prompt existing multi-storey apartment building societies to consider installing solar heaters and reduce the amount of power consumed in the country. Entrepreneurs (and there are very few in the renewable energy field in India) would do well to carefully exploit all of these possibilities and convey them to potential clients in a marketing push. And banks could lend money to finance the purchase of these products. There is a huge market waiting to be addressed and there are massive gains for not just entrepreneurs and consumers but also to the rest of the country on reduced energy costs and on the concordant reduction in pollution that is inevitable to follow this implementation.

Hopefully, someone would push for this to be addressed, come June.

India's Opposition Politicians Call Government BS on Power

Good friend Mohanakrishnan has sent this piece by former Indian Express Editor and MP Arun Shourie on the power situation in India: http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20090228/1241/top-half-truths-and-whole-lies.html Conveniently, Shourie does not do more than offer acute criticism. In the event that his party wins in the coming election, it would not help for him to articulate a solution that his own colleagues would almost certainly forget, like India's politicians are almost obliged to once they win.

That said, the state of Karnataka's regulation requiring new apartment buildings to mandatorily have solar powered water heaters is something that the rest of India needs to emulate. And the Government of India, the almighty power that feeds the Indian nation out of the goodness of its mammaries, could look at putting solar panels on government buildings. Prices for solar photovoltaics are low at the moment as the current recession bites across the world and the doofuses in Delhi could get a bargain if they tried to set up a tendering process for them. Let us hope that common sense (a very uncommon commodity in India, by the way) prevails at least as the country lurches towards an election.

Indian Opposition Parties Call Government BS on Power

A link sent my by friend Mohanakrishnan on Yahoo's Indian website has former Indian Express Editor and MP Arun Shourie call the government's lies on the power situation: http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20090228/1241/top-half-truths-and-whole-lies.html But Shourie is a politician these days and he confines his remarks to acute criticisms without offering any possible solutions to the crisis. Or, he may not be aware of the alternatives that are available and which could be used beginning tomorrow if the Indian government and private bodies in India so choose.

The state of Karnataka has introduced some sensible legislation mandating solar powered water heaters for all new multistorey apartment buildings. I think they need to go further by offering tax incentives to owners of older buildings and of individual homes to do the same. And, considering the problems that Bangalore has with power, why not ask all of the software companies - none of them are short a buck or two - to put solar photovoltaic panels on their rooftops? Indeed, why can't the almighty Government of India begin with a plan to make all buildings owned by the government either fully or partially powered by solar power? With the current glut in solar panel production and the low price of panels as many companies feel the recession bite across the world, this would be a superb time to buy and set this up.

Here's hoping for the best ONLY because this is an election year. Indian politicians work hardest in the run up to an election. Hopefully, in the two or three months ahead, they would do something useful on the power front.

An Indian Manufacturer Brings Out Electric Scooters

A friend who does not want to be identified sent me this link to an Indian manufacturer of electric scooters: http://www.ekovehicle.com/ The company is located in the technology capital of Bengaluru (better known as Bangalore) and offers its scooters in a few states of the country. I did think that their location in Bengaluru was wholly appropriate because that once beautiful city has become one of the most horrendously polluted places in India. I have watched this deterioration over four decades and never failed to be horrified at this deliberate and gradual destruction of a once amazingly beautiful city.

Bengaluru's pollution comes from its unusually high number of two wheelers - one of the highest per capita two wheeler populations in the country, and most of them older vehicles with two stroke engines. If this new product is good and if the scooters sell well, they would reduce the pollution considerably. I can see two problems, though - Bengaluru's perennial power supply problem and the less than glamorous image of scooters in India compared to motorcycles. Unfortunately, the new image of environment-friendly products being glamorous as in the west has not reached India yet. That said, on a more positive note, Western trends usually reach India quickly. I hope that this takes off. If Eko Vehicles make good products, they deserve to succeed and wildly at that.

Best wishes to them!