“We don’t have any power cuts, unlike in the cities and towns!” There are no bent electric poles and sagging cables to give the landscape an ugly look. Rahman, a tailor, does not have to strain his eyes working by candlelight. A light glows and a fan rotates slowly in his small shop. “You will see the solar panels in front of shops and homes, the price of each depending on how much power you need,” Rahman said. The one he has generates enough power to charge the battery which runs the light and the fan. “The panel cost me around Rs 4,000,” he said.

At the government level, the Assam Energy Development Agency has been promoting non-conventional energy sources for industrial and domestic use especially in rural and border areas which are connected to the conventional grid.

Neelim Akash Kashyap