Fly by night over Uttar Pradesh in northern India, the country’s most populous state, and its cities appear as dazzling islands. In between, however, lies an inky sea. Perhaps two-thirds of Uttar Pradesh’s 200 million people have no regular electricity. In India, 700 million, or more than half of the population, suffer unreliable connections to the national grid, or none. Often, once the sun drops, darkness prevails. On paper, plans exist for linking the country’s northern and southern grids. That would help, yet nobody expects rural India to be properly plugged in for a long time yet. Meanwhile, the villagers soldier on with paraffin lamps, which harm lungs and emit a dim light that is of little use for school homework. Also, darkness breeds danger, so women stay home after the sun goes down. A lack of electricity limits business, as markets and shops close early. Banks have been ordered to reach villages and provide basic financial services, but they need electricity to do so. And though most Indians have mobile phones, many struggles to regularly recharge them. Likewise, many of India’s 400,000 mobile-phone towers are powered at least in part by diesel generators, which are noisy, dirty, and costly. In general terms, the idea of frugal innovation calls for developing low-cost products that eliminate all but the most essential features to more economically fit the existing needs of people who are often profoundly poor. All the following proposals, except for _______, represent the sorts of frugal innovation that create cost-efficient light after dark for the including the many millions residing in Uttar Pradesh. A) In Atrauli village, on the edge of mango woods, the state began building a solar plant to power a network of phone towers that would span Uttar Pradesh. B) Attaching solar panels on a village roof and running wires to a few dozen nearby homes, allowing each up to seven hours of light a day plus a phone charger. C) Promoting a plan to rent villagers charged lanterns, fans and battery boxes and cheap tablet computers, the latter serving as televisions. D) Efforts by Omnigrid Micropower Company in conjunction with local government officials, to build solar plants that power a network of cell phone towers that will span Uttar Pradesh. E) Building mini-power stations that use hydropower or burn rice husks or methane from cow dung. F) Developing basic financial services that let people save, spend, and transfer money using their cell phones without having to maintain a bank account

Fly by night over Uttar Pradesh in northern India, the country’s most populous state, and its cities appear as dazzling islands. In between, however, lies an inky sea. Perhaps two-thirds of Uttar Pradesh’s 200 million people have no regular electricity. In India, 700 million, or more than half of the population, suffer unreliable connections to the national grid, or none. Often, once the sun drops, darkness prevails. On paper, plans exist for linking the country’s northern and southern grids. That would help, yet nobody expects rural India to be properly plugged in for a long time yet. Meanwhile, the villagers soldier on with paraffin lamps, which harm lungs and emit a dim light that is of little use for school homework. Also, darkness breeds danger, so women stay home after the sun goes down. A lack of electricity limits business, as markets and shops close early. Banks have been ordered to reach villages and provide basic financial services, but they need electricity to do so. And though most Indians have mobile phones, many struggles to regularly recharge them. Likewise, many of India’s 400,000 mobile-phone towers are powered at least in part by diesel generators, which are noisy, dirty, and costly. In general terms, the idea of frugal innovation calls for developing low-cost products that eliminate all but the most essential features to more economically fit the existing needs of people who are often profoundly poor. All the following proposals, except for _______, represent the sorts of frugal innovation that create cost-efficient light after dark for the including the many millions residing in Uttar Pradesh. A) In Atrauli village, on the edge of mango woods, the state began building a solar plant to power a network of phone towers that would span Uttar Pradesh. B) Attaching solar panels on a village roof and running wires to a few dozen nearby homes, allowing each up to seven hours of light a day plus a phone charger. C) Promoting a plan to rent villagers charged lanterns, fans and battery boxes and cheap tablet computers, the latter serving as televisions. D) Efforts by Omnigrid Micropower Company in conjunction with local government officials, to build solar plants that power a network of cell phone towers that will span Uttar Pradesh. E) Building mini-power stations that use hydropower or burn rice husks or methane from cow dung. F) Developing basic financial services that let people save, spend, and transfer money using their cell phones without having to maintain a bank account

ENGR.ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

14th Edition

ISBN:9780190931919

Author:NEWNAN

Publisher:NEWNAN

Chapter1: Making Economics Decisions

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 1QTC

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On paper, plans exist for linking the country’s northern and southern grids. That would help, yet nobody expects rural India to be properly plugged in for a long time yet.

Meanwhile, the villagers soldier on with paraffin lamps, which harm lungs and emit a dim light that is of little use for school homework.

Also, darkness breeds danger, so women stay home after the sun goes down. A lack of electricity limits business, as markets and shops close early. Banks have been ordered to reach villages and provide basic financial services, but they need electricity to do so. And though most Indians have mobile phones, many struggles to regularly recharge them.

Likewise, many of India’s 400,000 mobile-phone towers are powered at least in part by diesel generators, which are noisy, dirty, and costly.

In general terms, the idea of frugal innovation calls for developing low-cost products that eliminate all but the most essential features to more economically fit the existing needs of people who are often profoundly poor.

All the following proposals, except for _______, represent the sorts of frugal innovation that create cost-efficient light after dark for the including the many millions residing in Uttar Pradesh.

A) In Atrauli village, on the edge of mango woods, the state began building a solar plant to power a network of phone towers that would span Uttar Pradesh.

B) Attaching solar panels on a village roof and running wires to a few dozen nearby homes, allowing each up to seven hours of light a day plus a phone charger.

C) Promoting a plan to rent villagers charged lanterns, fans and battery boxes and cheap tablet computers, the latter serving as televisions.

D) Efforts by Omnigrid Micropower Company in conjunction with local government officials, to build solar plants that power a network of cell phone towers that will span Uttar Pradesh.

E) Building mini-power stations that use hydropower or burn rice husks or methane from cow dung.

F) Developing basic financial services that let people save, spend, and transfer money using their cell phones without having to maintain a bank account.

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