Abstract
Rural electrification has been an important part of government policy since India gained independence. Because around 70% of India’s total population live in the country’s rural areas, electrical supplies to these areas are crucial in terms of both economic and social benefits.1 Regarding economic benefits, electricity can be used for irrigation pumps, processing agricultural output, storing perishable agricultural goods, and so on.2 Since agriculture is predominant in the rural economy, electricity can play a crucial role in reducing poverty and promoting rural development. The social benefits that electricity brings are manifold and critically important to human well-being. It allows children to study and women to cook at night. It produces cleaner indoor air than biomass fuels, thus contributing to human health (Barnes et al., 1997; UNDP/WHO, 2009). Furthermore, it gives rural populations opportunities to gain access to telecommunication and mass media (Andreas, 2006). It is also noted that electricity usage has a positive impact on rural women’s lives as they can have more free time for other activities by using electricity in their daily routines such as cooking and pumping water (UNDP/World Bank, 2004; World Bank, 2012). A recent World Bank report says, ‘electricity not only alleviates poverty in the near term but also holds the potential to do so over the longer run’ (World Bank, 2012).
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Oda, H. (2014). An Analysis of Rural Household Electrification: The Case of Bihar. In: Tsujita, Y. (eds) Inclusive Growth and Development in India. IDE-JETRO Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137408747_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137408747_3
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