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Off-grid biomass plants light up villages; experts demand clarity on tariff regulation
It is 10 pm. Too late in the night by village standards. But the four benches around Mote Singh’s tea stall are occupied. People are chatting while sipping tea. More than a year ago, the stall in Sahebganj village of Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district used to be empty by 6 pm. Singh’s fortune has been illuminated by a 15 Watt CFL. The village has an electricity grid but supply is negligible. “Till mid-2011, I used to close my stall by sunset. Managing with kerosene lamp was expensive,” says Singh, the sole earner of a fa¬mily of five, who used kerosene to light his house. Kerosene costs him Rs 250 a month.
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