Abstract

Even in 2012, lack of electricity is a major issue in the Indian hinterlands. Many remote villages were not electrified and even those that were, have power supply for just a few hours in a month. This problem was acute in the state of Bihar in North India. Gyanesh Pandey, who grew up in Bihar experiencing the shortage of electricity, came up with a unique model to generate and distribute power to the poor who lived in the remote parts of India by using an indigenously developed modified gasifier system that runs on rice husk. The enterprise, Husk Power Systems (HPS), won many awards for its innovative business plan, social entrepreneurship, and for producing clean energy. This unique and sustainable venture, made positive impact on the society, by improving the lives of individuals, by providing them continuous power supply at a comparatively low prices. It had a positive impact on the environment too. Despite low pricing, HPS achieved a healthy profit margin which not only helped it to sustain itself but also helped it to replicate the model to grow rapidly. By mid-2011, HPS had impacted the lives of 200,000 people living in more than 325 villages and hamlets by installing more than 80 power plants. HPS planned to expand its reach to 6,500 villages both in India and outside by increasing the number of plants to 2014 by the year 2014. This would not only create 7,000 local jobs but would also help reduce CO2 emissions by 750,000 tons and US$ 50 million in cash for more than 5 million people. But, this expansion would not only require quick funding but also take HPS into unchartered territories where absence of local knowledge would throw up new challenges.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Learn the unique technique and revenue model of Husk Power Systems to produce and distribute cost-effective electricity in the least developed areas of India.
• Understand how a social entrepreneur can build a sustainable business in developing markets, to serve the population at the Bottom of the Pyramid.
• Study the off-grid electricity development and distribution approach of Husk Power Systems and compare and contrast it with the traditional grid power system.
• Analyze Husk Power Systems’ factors of success and the need for social entrepreneurship in developing countries like India.

Keywords

Social Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Business Model, Husk Power System, Power Industry, Off-grid Industry, Rural Electricity Problem, Rural Electrification, Rice Husk, Bihar, Forex exchange risk, Gyanesh Pandey, Business Plan Competition, Electricity crisis In India, Funding of social enterprise, Gasifier system, Biomass Gasification, Acumen Funds, Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and CISCO, Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy, Darden Annual Business Plan Competition, Dell Social Innovation Competition, Tech Museum, Royal Dutch Shell Foundation, Social And Environmental Impact