24x7 power for all in Odisha: strategies for on-ground action based on ACCESS 2015
According to data from GARV2, 37 per cent of households in Odisha are unelectrified, even as over 98 per cent of villages in the state have been electrified. In districts such as Nabarangpur and Angul, despite nearly 100 per cent village electrification, household electrification is considerably lower at 44 percent and 64 per cent, respectively. While it is therefore important to focus on household electrification, even that may not be enough, as merely being connected to the grid is not a guarantee of access to electricity. To achieve 24x7 power for all, must go beyond connections and provide adequate, sufficient and affordable electricity supply to all. To support strategies for rural electrification in Odisha, the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) presents the following results and recommendations based on a household survey on energy access conducted in collaboration with Columbia University in 2015. The survey, referred to as ACCESS, was carried out in three districts of Odisha, one from each administrative division of the state - Bargarh, Ganjam and Mayurbhanj. In all, 504 households across 42 villages were surveyed. The results are statistically representative at the district and state-level, given the sampling strategy adopted in the survey.