Aryavart Gramin Bank wins Green Oscars For Solar Project

The Ashden Awards, often known as ‘Green Oscars’, awarded £20,000 to Aryavart Gramin Bank (AGB), the pioneering sustainable energy project in Uttar Pradesh, India, at a ceremony in London. The Ashden Awards prize was presented to Shri N.K. Joshi, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of AGB, by Kenyan Nobel Prize laureate Wangari Maathai. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Patron of The Ashden Awards, personally congratulated this year’s Ashden Awards winners at a separate meeting.

Sarah Butler-Sloss, founder and chair of the Ashden Awards said: In many parts of India, as in other countries, finance is the main obstacle for rural families who want to have a solar home system. Having a bank which actively promotes solar is therefore an enormous benefit.

AGB, a rural bank in one of India’s poorest states, is expanding access to electricity in rural villages by offering small loans to its off-grid customers to help them buy solar home systems (SHS). The rural bank has a bulk supply and installation agreement with TATA-BP Solar. The scheme is promoted through 289 branches by holding ‘credit camps’ where customers are invited to sign up. So far 10,000 systems have been installed and 10,000 customers have joined the scheme, benefiting over 40,000 people.
The Ashden Awards, often known as ‘Green Oscars’, awarded £20,000 to Aryavart Gramin Bank (AGB), the pioneering sustainable energy project in Uttar Pradesh, India, at a ceremony in London. The Ashden Awards prize was presented to Shri N.K. Joshi, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of AGB, by Kenyan Nobel Prize laureate Wangari Maathai. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Patron of The Ashden Awards, personally congratulated this year’s Ashden Awards winners at a separate meeting.

Source: Solar India Online