Newly installed mini-grid at Totokchingha village under Mon district.
First mini-grid in Totokchingha village inaugurated
Mon, February 24 (MExN): In a pioneering initiative to deliver last-mile access to electricity in rural areas of Nagaland last-mile access to electricity in rural areas of Nagaland, the Mon District Administration and Mithun Rural Development Foundation (MRDF) inaugurated their first of the three mini-grids at Totokchingha village.
It was inaugurated by MLA N Thongwang Konyak on February 23. The two other solar mini grids at Chenwetnyu and Longkei will be inaugurated in March 2022, informed an update received here.
The Government of Nagaland represented by the Mon District Administration and Mithun Rural Development Foundation (MRDF) signed a 20-year agreement to set up mini-grids in rural Nagaland on January 24, 2022. The programme aims to provide reliable access to electricity for the last mile and promoting the adoption of green energy sources, covering 1000 villages in the next seven years.
The inaugural event of mini-grid at Totokchingha village was attended by Deputy Commissioner, Mon Thavaseelan K, IAS; NABARD General Manager, Tiakala Ao; Samit Mitra, Senior Director at Smart Power India; Vijay Bhaskar, Managing Director, MRDF; Shyamal Bera, Senior Manager, MRDF along with Sudeshna Mukherjee, Director of Operations, MRDF; Namrata Ginoya, Senior Manager, World Resources Institute (WRI) and others.
Speaking at the event, DC Mon Thavaseelan K, IAS informed that the first three grids have been financed by Smart Power India. “These are just first of the several mini-grids that are going to be installed in the Mon district. This project will make power available 24x7,” he said.
The DC Mon added that NABARD is supporting livelihood interventions. It has set up a revolving fund, which is going to be used to support entrepreneurs. Eventually, this fund would grow bigger to support entrepreneurs across the Mon district.
MRDF targets 100% adoption of mini-grids by Mon district households.
The MRDF, Managing Director, Vijay Bhaskar said, “In the next 3-4 years, we will install mini-grids for all 130 villages in Mon district. This pilot will be eventually scaled across all villages in Nagaland.
“We are following a PPP model of partnership – public, private and people, people being the most important part. Smart Power India has given us a roadmap to do this in the next 7 years. We will put all efforts to make this vision a reality,” he asserted.
NABARD, General Manager, Tiakala Ao, said that the bank is sponsoring a group of beneficiaries from Totokchingha, Longkei and Chenwetnyu who will be visiting another district in March, where they will be exposed to bio floc, fish farming. “This training will bring an economic boom to this region as it is going to attract reverse migration enabling rural youth to set up microenterprises here. The future looks promising,” she said.
Senior Director of Smart Power India, Samit Mitra, stated that this is a complete village integrated development programme which is not only about lighting loads, but also about enterprises, livelihoods, productive loads, all things that contribute to the overall well-being of the community. “This is the first time we have undertaken a project with MRDF to expand our footprint of mini-grids in North-East India,” Mitra informed.
“We have funded 3-4 plants to initiate the programme so that there’s proof of concept on the ground here which other organizations can replicate and scale across Nagaland and beyond. We are hopeful that this programme will meet its objective of providing livelihoods and increasing the earning potential of villages in the Mon District,” Mitra stated.
The inaugurated mini-grids aim to enable last-mile clean energy access, improve livelihoods, support women entrepreneurs, and increase the GDP of the state while reducing GHG emissions.
