Solar Electrification through renewable energy is the flagship project of Mlinda. This initiative involves providing access to electricity to rural and tribal communities of West Bengal and Jharkhand in ecologically fragile areas and conflict zones through a system of renewable energy based pico and mini grids that are paid for by the communities. Till date, Mlinda has commissioned 310 pico and micro grids (ranging from 150 Wp to 8 kWP) with an installed base of 105 kWp. To address growing energy access aspirations of the rural and tribal communities, our model evolved to meet holistic energy demand. Till date, Mlinda has commissioned 8 Solar PV based mini-grids in the Gumla district of Jharkhand, each of capacity 22 - 40 kWp, with an installed base of 210 kWp.

We, at Mlinda, believe that clean energy access is not an end in itself; it acts as a catalyzer for stimulating integrated rural development. Hence, we have been very active in using the soalr electrification platform to incubate micro entrepreneurship models at grass-roots, with a particular focus on empowering tribal women. One such endeavor has been micro-enterprise of rice hulling by tribal women’s group. Apart from improving their livelihoods, this doubles up as a good productive anchor load for the mini grid.

Pasanga is a typical tribal village, located in Phori Panchayat area, Gumla District Jharkhand. It houses 144 tribal households with an average hand holding of 2 acres per household. The total paddy yield in the village is around 576 tons per year, out of which around 192 tons is kept aside by the for their own consumption.