On August 23 and 24, CLASP’s India team will lead two sessions at the 2023 South Asia Forum for Distributed Energy (SAFDE), organized by GOGLA in New Delhi, India. This event will highlight the distributed energy community’s efforts to chart a business-driven route to improved energy access for households and the way forward to enhance the Productive Use of Energy (PURE) for improved livelihoods.

India’s substantial endeavors in electrification have resulted in ensuring widespread electricity accessibility across the nation – today the country is 100% electrified. The Government of India is now looking at enabling access to reliable power 24/7 across India through multiple initiatives.

To address the ‘weak grid’ challenge, GOGLA and CLASP are holding a focused discussion on ‘Plugging the Gap: Partnerships and Innovations for the Weak Grid’ on August 23. The session will include panelists from the Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) industry, electricity distribution companies, financing and technology experts.

India is one of the largest producers of agriculture and horticulture products – the largest producer of milk, and the second largest producer of fruits, vegetables, and fish. While reaching record horticulture output in 2020-21, it wasted 30% of produced food in the same year. The lack of cold chain facilities for food storage contributed largely to agricultural losses. Post-harvest losses for fruits and vegetables in FY 2021-22 amounted to 10 million metric tons and INR 60,000 crores (USD 7.2 billion), impacting farmers’ incomes and greenhouse gas emissions.

To enhance access to cold chain facilities, the Indian government launched multiple schemes to enable investments in cold chain infrastructure. In partnership with Energy Efficiency Services Limited, and cKinetics as the knowledge partner, CLASP will be co-hosting a session on investment prospects in the cold chain sector for the future of India’s agriculture. The session will bring together financial institutions and demand aggregators, uncovering short and long-term opportunities that minimize the gaps between farmers and cold chain facilities.

CLASP at SAFDE2023:

23 August 2023 | 15:00 PM – 16:00 PM | Plugging the Gap: Partnerships and Innovations for the Weak Grid

24 August 2023 | 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Investment Opportunities for Affordable and Efficient Agriculture Cold Chain

To register for SAFDE 2023, please log on here.