“Focusing on energy efficiency in vast Indian market; want to revolutionise URJA VEER program” – Animesh Mishra, EESL

1. Recently EESL celebrated its 15th Raising Day. How do you narrate the journey?

Animesh Mishra: EESL journey is a phenomenon that the world recognizes and it has become a company which is studied in Harvard & other premium institutes as a case study. The LED bulb has been existing since 2003 but never took off. It came to India in 2009 and sold for Rs 1000, then came down to Rs 700. It became a ‘lifestyle’ product. In 2013-14, the Government launched a program called DELP, which centered on CFL and then EESL was given the task to distribute LEDs in Pondicherry & Andhra Pradesh. Our first procurement was of 1 crore LED bulbs which immediately brought down the prices from Rs 700 to 350. Thereafter, realizing its potential, we got requirements from all state governments for up to 5 crore LED bulbs. Hence, the next bid was of Rs 5 crore and it was a hit. Thereafter, in 2015 Hon’ble Prime Minister adopted UJALA program and mandated EESL to make proliferation across; even in the street lights. We transformed LED from lifestyle product to ‘every man’s product’ and saved lots of energy for the nation and since then, every year we are saving Rs 20,000 crore. Our program has also helped the government to avoid the peak demand of 12 GW which itself if you turn into production would require more than Rs 1 lakh crore to build power plants.

2. Why do Indian households need energy efficiency?

Animesh Mishra: India is a developing economy where people aspire to the next level of ownership. The power requirement also increases with it but the increase in demand is manifold. The power demand is rising even in rural households, hence, the demand & supply has to be managed. Increase in demand would only be justified when we start using energy efficient products in households. About 40% of power consumption happens in the domestic sector alone. Till date we have distributed more than 38 crore LEDs. States like Gujarat, Odisha & Andhra Pradesh saw more distribution as they had their own programs aligned with EESL. Skew has been mostly not as per geography but states who have been more interested in development or who were buying energy at higher costs. High power demand forced state governments & DISCOMS to indulge in energy efficient programs. Few states took lead in energy efficiency. The Energy Act came in 2001, and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) was formed in 2003 that framed regulations for energy efficiency & implementation. But large scale deployment at consumer level didn’t take place. Hence, EESL was formed as an implementation agency that could create both the market and the industry bringing demand & supply to equilibrium. EESL started demand aggregation across India for energy efficient products and offered a level playing platform & encouragement to the industry. The economies of cost were achieved with the help of EESL.

3. What are the other areas EESL delves in the quest of nation building?

Animesh Mishra: After LED, we forayed into electric vehicles & electric charging and also in smart meters. So when we saw growth in both these sectors, we diversified into two companies – one is IntelliSmart where we have tied up with NIIF as a joint venture. And smart metering because the requirement is 25 crore and the country has not even reached even 1.5 crore putting all players together. EESL has placed 51 lakhs. The market is still large to cover. Smart meters are something that creates efficiencies in humans – because there is no requirement to go out to do meter reading, reduced manpower hours, paper wastage, faith & trust increases. The manpower can be utilized in other meaningful activities.

Recently we have entered three major spaces – one is green cooking, induction cook stoves launched by EESL as National Electric Cooking Program, we have also launched DLDC fans. Fans are the highest consumer of electricity after air conditioners in India. Fans would consume about 70 Watts but our fans introduced three years ago use only 28-35 watts, reducing consumption by more than half. Fans run more than lights, in the South they run 24X7. The efficiency led ROI would be not more than 2.5 years when one can recover the entire cost of the fan.  For e-mobility, we started Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL).

4. How does EESL help in research & development and innovation in energy efficiency landscape?

Animesh Mishra: We have a corporate driven program where innovation is added to enhance energy efficiency. We do not invent any new products. For example, we got a request from the Ladakh administration, as we are their energy efficiency consultant also, to get room temperature of -5 to -15 degree Celsius controlled against the outside temperature of -25. There was no heat firm in India offering that kind of temperature control. Their power mainly comes from diesel & grid. The Ladakh administration asked us to make the system more efficient by introducing new technologies like glycol water etc. as pilot. So, as far as R&D is concerned, we intervene with products & innovations to make systems more efficient. Innovation in air conditioning is another example where we used 100% copper concept as it is better than aluminum that rusts less and increases AC’s life and they are 15% more power efficient than any 5-star rated AC in the market. It’s available at a lower price too.

5. Does EESL have any role in heating & cooling of commercial & industrial buildings that require heavy power?

Animesh Mishra: We had started the chiller program but have not been able to penetrate the market yet because it’s a high-end product and the technologies installed are for 20-25 years. People don’t change them in the middle because that would affect their working environment. The private sector is already adept with it and our intervention henceforth is limited. Now we are getting into electric cycles and e-mobility. E-cycle, fitted with a battery, is not just environment friendly but also offers ease as you can peddle also. We have done surveys and found that SHG women or Asha workers who earlier travelled 8-10 kms daily were greatly benefitted with e-cycles. Their health improved, travelling cost reduced considerably and work efficiency increased. The cost of travelling with an e-cycle is 70 paise (Rs 0.7) per km which is very less even when compared with public transport. This e-cycle comes at Rs 40,000 but we have subsidized it for Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala for pilot.

6. What is the story and objective behind the launch of URJA VEER program?

Animesh Mishra: EESL is more related to services as to how we can serve the energy efficiency in the country. We brought this concept that everybody should be involved in urja (power) saving. Urja Veer is an ‘Urja Volunteer’ for energy efficiency revolution. Anybody can become an Urja Veer who has a pan card, an Aadhar card & a valid bank account. They can do marketing & sales of energy efficient products and earn a commission. We took best practices from all industries including LIC, retails, gig workers etc. and adopted it in an amalgamated way. We planned to offer the SHG workers, electricians etc. an opportunity to earn beyond what they have been earning. Urja Veers are earning Rs 500-1000 per month. If a person has a salary of Rs 10,000, the extra earning from Urja Veer concept gives a jump of 10% for him to the total income.

7. Tell us something about the international collaborations of EESL.

Animesh Mishra: Post COVID-19, we were slow on international collaborations as our focus was on the revival of the Indian market and we are still working hard on it. EESL is not into lifestyle products. LEDs & fans constitute the most of the Indian households and our market segment is large & massive. Our focus is to get energy efficient products adopted in the domestic market and we would be investing more in marketing. Countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives have approached us and we are in talks with them. Currently, the priority is home ground for us. We want to upscale the Urja Veer program like UJALA.

8. The Smart Meters have become a talk of the town. What has been the outcome of this program?

Animesh Mishra: I myself am a user of smart meters and as a consumer, lots of pain has gone out of my head. Smart meters is a pre-paid system. I can recharge it from anywhere and check on the power usage. It is the right thing and everybody should have it. It’s a very layman understood thing. As far as the deployment of smart meters is concerned, it is a very sensitive thing in India. People generally believe that meters may run fast and can do many wrong things; and this counters its goodness. In telecom, the pre-paid system has been a success. The power coming into rural areas is subsidized and some power is free also. Hence, education & awareness among the people is key for the success of smart meters.

9. What future do you foresee for energy efficiency in India, a country of predominantly young men?

Animesh Mishra: As a country of youthful people, I believe everyone should treat the resources they receive as their own. When we personally own something, we tend to use it wisely and efficiently. My message to the youth is to adopt this mindset—consider everything as your own and strive to use it responsibly; the country loves you back!