Energy, next to food, clothing and shelter is essential for individuals in a society. Energy is considered one of the basic infrastructure facilities required for economic growth and development of a country.

However, the Rural India consumes only 20 percent of the energy consumed in India but still the conventional resource of energy used are not finite and will exhaust one day. Therefore now we must proceed towards non conventional energy sources to meet the future demand of energy, to conserve the resources available and to save our environment as the non conventional energy sources are pollution free too. Some of the non-conventional energy sources which can be exploited by the Panchayats are wind energy, solar energy, geo-thermal energy, biogas, baggase based plants etc.

Also still there are some remote villages who are not electrified because of some political reasons or due to their remoteness. In these villages non conventional energy options are available in plenty and could be exploited efficiently with the help of Panchayats. Panchayats can be benefited by the use of non conventional energy sources as they are available free of cost and they are non exhaustible so there is no problem of how much you are using. The Panchayats will also be benefited as these sources of energy are pollution free hence the environment of the village will improve. The techniques are beneficial for Panchayats which are situated in remote areas or areas which can't be connected to the centralized system of power distribution and generation. The use of non conventional energy resources will help in economic development of the area. Also through some energy harnessing techniques the waste management problems of the area can also be solved like by the use of biogas plant and baggase based plants the agricultural waste and the organic waste of the area can be disposed off efficiently and this will improve the sanitation and the hygiene of the area .

The Indian Government is working in this field from years. They established Ministry of Non Conventional Energy Sources (MNES), backed by a series of State Nodal energy development Agencies, to help run renewable policy into mainstream energy practice. A National Implementing Agency, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has been operating for many years in the support and financing of suitable projects.