NEW DELHI, Feb 4 (Bernama) — In a special initiative, India will undertake solar electrification of select villages in other South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation countries as part of its developmental programmes, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported Monday.
The programme, to be launched soon, will involve providing electrification to homes and streets in villages to be specifically identified for the purpose.
The work will entail supply of power and maintenance by companies under the supervision of Ministry of External Affairs, sources said.
The MEA has invited tenders from companies for undertaking the task.
Initially, one village will be selected for electrification on pilot basis in each of the SAARC country — Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives.
The work will involve supplying and commissioning of about 2,100 solar home lighting systems and 350 solar street lighting systems, about 300 homes and 50 street lighting systems in each village.
In each country, the MEA will identify three villages, from which one village will be taken up for electrification initially, the sources said.
The “most suitable village” will be selected by the executioner of the project after a visit to each of the three villages, they said.
The company undertaking the work will have to supply, install and commission the solar home systems and solar street lighting systems and supply spares in required quantity in the village.
The successful bidder will also make arrangements for providing maintenance support during the first year from the date of commissioning in the village and also meet warranty obligations, the sources said.
The company will provide on-site training to the users and some local technicians on operation, maintenance, dos and don’ts, they said.
The MEA will organise separate training programme for two technicians from each country, who are expected to maintain the systems as per the requirement.
The Solar Home Lighting System (SHS) is an indoor lighting system, consisting of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) module of 40 watt power and a storage battery of 12 volts.
The SHS is expected to provide comfortable level of illumination.
The Solar Street Lighting System will involve operation from dawn to dusk during all seasons, with the lamp automatically switching on whenever the light level is lower than pre-set value.