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BOOND : Bring affordable solar systems to rural Rajasthan thanks to an innovative financial scheme
India is the worlds 6th largest energy consumer, accounting for about 3.5% of the global energy consumption. Although the demand is mostly urban in the country, 25% of the rural population (300m) still lives in complete darkness or with poor lighting. 1. Introduction During our stay in Noida, we had the opportunity to meet with Rustam Sengupta, founder of Boond, a social business willing to bring Solar Energy in rural areas of InBoond chose to broaden its product range (from 3W solar lanterns to bigger systems such as Solar Home Systems (SHS), which include two lanterns, a fan and a TV plug (75W). All their products are certified by the MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy). Boond aims mainly at providing access to affordable energy to off-grid rural villagers. The company first started by selling 3W solar lamps, but soon realized that the villagers were expecting much more. As Rustam puts it, They want what we want: they want light inside their homes that they can switch on and off. 4. Business model Boonds selling model is two-fold: - For its big solar system products (200 USD or more), the company receives a 40% Government subsidy on each product, 20% upfront by the customer, which pays the 40% left in 4 years installments. Indeed, the state banks Boond has partnered with offer (with conditions) micro credits to the customers at a 12% annual rate (far below the 26% rate offered by MFIs) - For its smaller products (such as a 3W solar lanterns at 25 USD), the customers pay upfront. On a 200 USD product, Boond wins a 35 USD margin. 5. Marketing strategy Boond has also set up a strong marketing strategy. He organizes one-week events in rural areas to attract the villagers through dance performances, free medical services and so on. It is the opportunity for the company to display its products, explain the financials behind it and take orders. The events are organized by Boonds 50 local entrepreneurs, who act as salesmen for the company, and who are remunerated on a commission basis. Boond consolidates the orders and fills the credit demand applications for each person interested in buying a Boond SHS. Yet, the state banks only fulfill 50% of the total applications, because they demand that the microcredit record of the customers family is default-free. Still, by a strong lobbying, Boond greatly helps the customers access to state banks credit, and thus to SHS. 6. Social impact Since its inception, Boond has sold 6 to 7,000 solar lamps and 140 Solar Home Systems. The company has implemented an operational follow-up of its activities

dia. After his bachelor in Engineering at UC Irvine in the US, Rustam undertook an MBA at INSEAD (2008) and worked in the financial sector in Singapore. He quit in 2009 and started thinking about setting up social business in India. He spent 9 months on the field, in Manipur, Bengal, and Rajasthan, to better understand the needs of the villagers and the potential problems he could face in implementing a business in the rural sector. His benchmark led him to start his project in 3 districts of Rajasthan (about 1,000 villages). 2. Presentation Rustam Sengupta won the Economic Times Power of Ideas Award[1] in 2010. This was the start of Boond: he received angel investors and Government funds (from the CIIE: Center for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship) and started his company with 70,000 USD.

3. Partnerships The Indian government is strong-rooted in rural areas. Thus, social businesses that are willing to implement their activities in these areas seek to deal and partner with the Government. This is a very difficult challenge yet, Boond managed to get into the Governments books by winning the Innovation Award in 2010. Their partnership takes the shape of subsidies and customer credit facilitation with state banks. Boond also partners with NGOs, such as SEVA Mandir, which greatly helped the company establish its offices in Udaipur.

BOOND : Bring affordable solar systems to rural Rajasthan thanks to an innovative financial scheme
and impact. One of the mandates of Boonds policy is to ensure quality and after sales services to their customers: the company offers 3 free services every year for 2 years for each customer. 7. Long-term vision Boonds goal is to reach 500 SHS/year starting from next year. The company states that bigger systems are cheaper (a 2W product costs 6 USD/W, whereas a SHS costs 3 USD/W) and last longer (15 years for a SHS vs. 2 years for a solar lantern), which is why it is more affordable for rural customers in the long run.

8. Acknowledgments We would like to warmly thank Rustam, who gave us some of his precious time and shared with us his vision for rural development in India! To know more about Boond, you can visit the companys Facebook page.