<p>Harish recently won the Ramon Magsaysay award for 2011 for his passionate and pragmatic efforts to put solar power technology in the hands of the poor. In an interview with Nandini Chandrashekar of Deccan Herald, he speaks about the solar segment in renewable energy and how the Solar Mission has landed the small and medium players in the field in a fix.<br /><br />How has the Solar Mission impacted the growth of the solar-based products?<br />The Solar Mission was started with good intentions, but it has too many teething problems. It has actually put a halt to the progress, especially in Karnataka. The lack of finance from Nabard to the banks have throttled the scheme. <br /><br />We are in a crisis mode, in the sense that the money flow is not happening to the banks.If they announce a 30 per cent subsidy and 5 per cent refinance, the financing has to follow that route, but that route is clogged. When the policy was planned, they should have consulated the existing players about the barriers and what will work. Now they have created a business model according to policy and not vice versa.<br /><br />How has this affected the companies in the field like yours, who are making use of bank financing?<br />We are a for-profit organisation but our investors are not-for profit. Today, there is Rs 2 crore outstanding because the banks are not getting reimbursement at the right time. Whose Rs 2 crore is that? Its our investors’ money. Such a scenario will discourage other investors as well. I have cash flow and I will maintain it. But what will happen to the smaller guys? They will collapse. <br /><br />The authorities have to seriously work on war-footing to clear these clogs in a couple of months. Otherwise it’s not a healthy situation for the small players. We are now going at a slower pace for the first time in 16 years. This has been the situation for the past 4 months, ever since the Solar Mission started.<br /><br />Is there a simpler ways to manage the subsidies?<br />Absolutely. I am telling them to go back to the history of how the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) did the water heating subsidy allocation in Karnataka. In 1996-97, when there were five solar water heating manufacturers, they brought in interest subsidy. The banks could directly apply to the ministry and the ministry could directly park the money with the banks. Within 4 years, there were 58 manufacturers of solar water heaters. The government should do something similar instead of having these multiple layers like Nabard in place.<br /><br />Where do you think your success lies and how do you think it will help others entering this segment?<br />We are responsible for lighting 1.2 lakh households but that is not where the success is. <br /><br />There is 16 years of pain that has gone into it. What we want people to know is, especially young entrepreneurs is to come to us so they do not have to go through such pain. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. We have 100 per cent processes, about 40 per cent are highly replicable in any state of the country.<br /><br />Other 30 per cent needs variation depending on the culture, geo terrain and the rest 30 depends on the how the management team is structured. We are telling entrepreneurs to use our shoulders to fire because you are going for investments. <br /><br />What would you term as bad practices in the industry that is affecting the solar segment itself?<br />When people jump on the solar bandwagon and come up with cheap products, which do not meet the expectation of the people. People will lose faith in the solar segment. For example, the solar lanterns.<br /><br />Today we seem to be pushing lanterns to people who do not need it. If a person needs two lights it does not mean two lanterns. It’s easier to sell so they want to maintain it. When it comes to the poor, we assume a lot of things. We are creating a plastic junkyard in the rural area because these things last for a year-and-a-half and the justification is in that time, they would have recovered the cost. Is this the way to sell.? That is unsustainable market.<br /><br />How significant is this award to you?<br />The good part is that the significance of Selco’s standing is projected better. People who were not listening to us earlier are listening now. More importantly, it would help if we can make a little bit of dent in the policy. But just because somebody has won the award, it does not mean they are right. That debate should always be there. The best thing we enjoy are the criticisms around us.</p>
<p>Harish recently won the Ramon Magsaysay award for 2011 for his passionate and pragmatic efforts to put solar power technology in the hands of the poor. In an interview with Nandini Chandrashekar of Deccan Herald, he speaks about the solar segment in renewable energy and how the Solar Mission has landed the small and medium players in the field in a fix.<br /><br />How has the Solar Mission impacted the growth of the solar-based products?<br />The Solar Mission was started with good intentions, but it has too many teething problems. It has actually put a halt to the progress, especially in Karnataka. The lack of finance from Nabard to the banks have throttled the scheme. <br /><br />We are in a crisis mode, in the sense that the money flow is not happening to the banks.If they announce a 30 per cent subsidy and 5 per cent refinance, the financing has to follow that route, but that route is clogged. When the policy was planned, they should have consulated the existing players about the barriers and what will work. Now they have created a business model according to policy and not vice versa.<br /><br />How has this affected the companies in the field like yours, who are making use of bank financing?<br />We are a for-profit organisation but our investors are not-for profit. Today, there is Rs 2 crore outstanding because the banks are not getting reimbursement at the right time. Whose Rs 2 crore is that? Its our investors’ money. Such a scenario will discourage other investors as well. I have cash flow and I will maintain it. But what will happen to the smaller guys? They will collapse. <br /><br />The authorities have to seriously work on war-footing to clear these clogs in a couple of months. Otherwise it’s not a healthy situation for the small players. We are now going at a slower pace for the first time in 16 years. This has been the situation for the past 4 months, ever since the Solar Mission started.<br /><br />Is there a simpler ways to manage the subsidies?<br />Absolutely. I am telling them to go back to the history of how the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) did the water heating subsidy allocation in Karnataka. In 1996-97, when there were five solar water heating manufacturers, they brought in interest subsidy. The banks could directly apply to the ministry and the ministry could directly park the money with the banks. Within 4 years, there were 58 manufacturers of solar water heaters. The government should do something similar instead of having these multiple layers like Nabard in place.<br /><br />Where do you think your success lies and how do you think it will help others entering this segment?<br />We are responsible for lighting 1.2 lakh households but that is not where the success is. <br /><br />There is 16 years of pain that has gone into it. What we want people to know is, especially young entrepreneurs is to come to us so they do not have to go through such pain. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. We have 100 per cent processes, about 40 per cent are highly replicable in any state of the country.<br /><br />Other 30 per cent needs variation depending on the culture, geo terrain and the rest 30 depends on the how the management team is structured. We are telling entrepreneurs to use our shoulders to fire because you are going for investments. <br /><br />What would you term as bad practices in the industry that is affecting the solar segment itself?<br />When people jump on the solar bandwagon and come up with cheap products, which do not meet the expectation of the people. People will lose faith in the solar segment. For example, the solar lanterns.<br /><br />Today we seem to be pushing lanterns to people who do not need it. If a person needs two lights it does not mean two lanterns. It’s easier to sell so they want to maintain it. When it comes to the poor, we assume a lot of things. We are creating a plastic junkyard in the rural area because these things last for a year-and-a-half and the justification is in that time, they would have recovered the cost. Is this the way to sell.? That is unsustainable market.<br /><br />How significant is this award to you?<br />The good part is that the significance of Selco’s standing is projected better. People who were not listening to us earlier are listening now. More importantly, it would help if we can make a little bit of dent in the policy. But just because somebody has won the award, it does not mean they are right. That debate should always be there. The best thing we enjoy are the criticisms around us.</p>
