Selco

“Give light and people will find a way”

An interactive film by Mamta Murthy

A farmer in a mud hut,
a fruit seller on the pavement,
a music school in the forest –
how can the diverse energy needs
of such deprived communities be met?

To find out,
journey across South India with SELCO.
This sustainable energy enterprise has ingeniously covered
‘The Last Mile’
to reach a million people who had little or no access to electricity.

It’s an illuminating tale of
rural and urban poor’s ambitions being powered up.
Puns intended.

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Michael

Yellapur, North-west Karnataka

A solar panel on the roof can provide energy in the middle of a forest but how can Siddis like Michael afford it while living in a forest?? It’s the 'one day wage' calculation.

Financial inclusion

Only for severely marginalized communities like Siddis, SELCO becomes a bank guarantor. For Siddis, the bank guarantee went up to 100% initially as no bank was willing to lend to them. Over time, the banks were convinced of their financial reliability and the guarantee demand has come down. This small intervention to offer energy access also came with a co-benefit of access to institutional finance that could become a catalyst for development in the long term.

Choose where to go in Dhanushkodi, after watching the arrival.

Dhanushkodi

Tamil Nadu

Off-grid technology is not just the best option, sometimes, like in Dhanushkodi, it’s the only option. This inhospitable pinch of land at the tip of South India is listed as an ‘abandoned island’ but 200 fishing families eke out a living here. For SELCO it’s New Business.

Ecosystem creation

Over the past two decades, SELCO operated across Karnataka but has now set up branches in Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. Replication of a business model that offers customized solutions to neglected communities spread far and deep requires a highly enabling ecosystem. For ex. entering Tamil Nadu involved soliciting the support of NABARD and banks like the Pandiyan Grameen bank to lend towards energy solutions and creating a human resource base of the likes of Mari who value the mission and are embedded enough in energy deprived communities to support queries and servicing.

The Solar Bus

Chitradurga district, Karnataka

Computer education in village schools need not be abandoned equipment with no power or people to operate them. Don Bosco school in Chitradurga approached SELCO with this grand vision and a simple request.

The Education Lab

This innovation project has a deep connect with SELCO’s philosophy of looking at how energy can be linked to improvements in other social infrastructure like education. Looking at the model rather than the project alone, questions continue on how such a unit can be optimally used. What is it that children should be taught using these computers? Determining the content is as critical as powering the setup. To take forward projects like the Solar Bus, while exploring questions around educational content, the SELCO Foundation plans to start an Education lab. This lab will look at interventions in rural schools, colleges and vocational institutes, with the aim of improving content, delivery and learning around issues of sustainability, energy and innovation.

Not just in education, the solar bus also opens up a range of possibilities for the use of a mobile solar powered unit - health clinics, mobile infotainment unit in rural areas, livelihood training centers for remote settlements and so on.

Shankar

Beedina Gudde settlement, Udupi, South Karnataka

Growing up in an unelectrified urban slum never dimmed Shankar’s ambitions. Reflecting the entrepreneurial drive of many a small town youth, he is the perfect retail partner for SELCO.

Micro-entrepreneurs

It took time, effort and SELCO’s assurance to the Cooperative bank for Shankar to access a loan for his solar business. Today’s ‘Impact investor’ is unlikely to pay attention to anyone like him. Simple access to credit on reasonable terms would enable grassroot entrepreneurs like Shankar to invigorate their local community without any charity handouts.

Shankar’s charging station

This particular project uses solar power to charge portable battery boxes that are picked up by individual households to meet their basic lighting needs. Solar panels are mounted on the roof of Shankar’s house with the battery bank and charge controllers installed inside the house to recharge portable boxes. The households collect these boxes in the evening and give it back to Shankar in the morning to be recharged. They pay rent on a weekly basis depending on the usage. This rent amount helps Shankar repay his bank loan installments.

Choose where to go with Ramesh, after watching Hello, Ramesh from SELCO.

Ramesh

Chitradurga district, Central Karnataka

The SELCO process is simple. Offer the poor a sustainable energy product/ service for his/ her particular needs & find a way to make it affordable. Ramesh from SELCO walks the talk.

Hello, Ramesh from SELCO

Working with SELCO requires a certain mindset, an awareness of the role each individual must play in creating social impact. The field staff is expected to reach out to potential customers with relevant need-based solutions rather than focus merely on sales.

Mission Targets

The Mission category of projects was introduced in 2009-10 with the aim of re-orienting the organization towards its original goal of reaching deeper into the socio-economic strata. The mission targets are given out as a percentage of total household targets and are defined in terms of number of households rather than in revenue terms. Branches are awarded for highest mission sales or highest number of high-risk projects at the end of the year as reaching out to the socially and financially excluded requires tremendous effort from the Branch team. Mission project is now also a part of every business plan and organizational target.