New Delhi, April 2015: Building on pioneering efforts by clean energy practitioners to expand access to affordable and reliable energy solutions in India, a broad alliance formed by 12 key stakeholders in the decentralized energy access sector came together in 2014 to create the Clean Energy Access Network. The official launch of the Clean Energy Access Network (CLEAN) took place in New Delhi, India on April 8 of 2015. The event, organized as a dialogue between off-grid, clean energy practitioners in India and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, was graced by Joint Secretary, MNRE, Shri Tarun Kapoor, senior scientists and directors at MNRE, Shri V.K Jain and Shri G. Prasad as well as MNRE scientist Shri Tarun Singh.
Mr Manpreet Anand of USAID, Dr. Arunabha Ghosh of CEEW, Mr. Krishan Dhawan of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation and Mr. Alay Barah of ICCo India conveyed their wishes and ideas for the success of CLEAN after which they launched two strategic reports on skill solutions and access to finance for the off-grid clean energy space along with CLEAN's CEO, Mr Ashis Kumar Sahu.
Of the 1.2 billion people without access to electricity globally, one third are located in India. Another 800 million people in India do not have access to modern cooking solutions. Through the collective experience and innovation of its members, CLEAN will work to support access to affordable and reliable energy services by addressing the barriers that the decentralized clean energy sector faces in India. It will represent and advocate on behalf of the sector to important public and private stakeholders including the government at the national and state levels, banks and financial institutions.