Energy inclusion through renewable energy adoption and livelihood improvement in India Pradhan Bibhuti Ranjan*,**, Kar Sanjay Kumar*** *General Manager (CSR), Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. **PhD Scholar, Department of Management Studies, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, Jais, Uttar Pradesh, India ***Associate Professor, Department of Management Studies, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, Jais, Uttar Pradesh, India. skar@rgipt.ac.in JEL Classification: P28, Q4 Online published on 12 August, 2019. Abstract The stupendous growth of renewable energy in the last decade, which is most of grid-tied, will not be able to alleviate ‘energy poverty’ of the poor in pockets of developing economies. Since the grid is either non-existent or even if it is present, it is not available when required, or the quality of electricity received is inferior, for good living. Therefore, we argue that, first, in a resource-crunch world, the objective of increasing grid capacity is not likely to achieve energy inclusion shortly. Second, the off-grid renewable energy solutions, especially solar, whose costs have nosedived in the recent past, may be the way forward. Third, a variety of off-grid solar solutions (for lighting solutions) have been piloted across developing economies, but successes concerning scaling up and sustainability have been very few. This is primarily due to lack of efforts towards dovetailing energy inclusion strategies with improving livelihood options (enabling higher income). We further argue that more money, especially in the hands of rural women, rather than men, will ensure faster adoption of renewable energy options towards energy inclusion in the long term. Top Keywords Energy inclusion, Energy poverty, Renewable energy, Sustainability, Livelihood. Top |