New Delhi: Impressed by India’s rural electrification drive, West Asian countries such as Jordan and Syria and some countries in sub-Saharan Africa have evinced interest in state-run Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) bringing electricity to their villages, said a person aware of the development.
This comes in the backdrop of electricity finally reaching all of India’s 597,464 census villages on 28 April, setting the stage for universal household electrification. REC, India’s largest power sector lender, is the nodal agency that executed the scheme.
“Given our experience and expertise in the field of electrification, we are prepared to provide a range of services and financing for developing power sector in other emerging economies,” said P.V. Ramesh, chairman and managing director, REC.
The interest from Syria is for the electrification reconstruction work, given that its power sector has been badly affected due to the civil war.
The West Asian country has witnessed a bloody civil war over the last seven years. The unrest began as the so-called Arab Spring or pro-democracy protests that overthrew long-ruling presidents of Tunisia, Egypt and other countries in the region spread to Syria with the opposition Syrian National Council fighting to overthrow the country’s President Bashar Hafez al-Assad.