The activities envisaged under the Remote Village Electrification Programme (RVEP) in India, by Ministry of Non Conventional Energy Sources (MNES), include survey of the villages, identification of the appropriate Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) for village electrification, preparation of statewide master plans using techniques such as GIS mapping. This will be a massive exercise that would eventually cover more than 30,000 villages all over India during 2007-12.

Assam Energy Development Agency (AEDA) has issued a tender to survey of 416 nos of remote villages and for preparation of DPR for village electrification using RETs. Shri Shakti Alternative Energy Ltd (SSAEL) has been declared as the lowest bidder for providing consultancy services as per AEDA's tender and it is expected that the work would be awarded soon. SSAEL has proposed, to AEDA, an additional GIS and Knowledge Management module for the RVEP work in Assam as the same is a desirable addition to the ToR of the project. SSAEL's optional proposal does not include components for training and capacity development of various stakeholders, larger scale replicability etc keeping in mind the resource constraints of AEDA. SSAEL and its partner JANASTU, with the help of GVEP's GAPfund, plan to develop the GIS and Knowledge Management tools along with training and capacity development components for implementation of the RVEP in Assam. The Assam RVEP pilot will be a "Showcased Demonstration Project" and can be extended to provide the support services at national level for MNES, other implementing agencies and GVEP partners.

GVEP draft strategy for India has very correctly identified the need for the Track 2 Activities which can be carefully planned and executed to catalyze India's Remote Village Electrification Programme (RVEP).