The South Asia Forum for Distributed Energy (SAFDE) 2025, hosted by GOGLA, a global association for the off-grid solar energy industry in collaboration with Good Energies and the IKEA Foundation threw the spotlight on the critical role of Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) in taking forward sustainable development and climate resilience across South Asia.

Ashish Khanna, Director General of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), called for significant scaling up of private investments in DRE sector and said,  “We need to enable private sector investments in driving technology and innovation for DRE, while the government focuses on developing the policy and regulatory framework and results-based financing to make these solutions affordable for the poor.”

GOGLA pre-launched a study aimed at showcasing how off-grid technologies can be used to enhance the efficiency and affordability of grid-based energy systems while cultivating collaboration between DISCOMs and private enterprises.

The forum presented some promising figures about the DRE sector in India. DRE promises a $53 billion market potential in India and also can generate 35 million green jobs by 2047. According to the data provided by the forum, a total of 768,000 off-grid solar products were sold across South Asia by GOGLA affiliates in 2023 alone.  The sector created more than 80,000 jobs in India between 2019 and 2021.

Sarah Malm, Executive Director of GOGLA who was present at the inauguration ceremony emphasised use of AI and digital platforms are accelerating DRE deployment. “DRE is transforming the energy landscape, powering economies, and building climate resilience,” she stated.

One of the key discussions at SAFDE 2025 was the integration of DRE into agri-food system policies. This particular system produces nearly 11 billion tonnes of food annually and employs 4 billion people, playing an important role in economic growth, food security, and employment opportunities. Experts in the agri-food system like Priyadarshini Karve, CEO of Clean Energy Access Network, and Asheesh Fotedar, COO of the National Centre for Cold Chain Development, stressed on the importance of policy alignment, decentralised infrastructure, convergence, and the digitisation of supply chains.

Karve highlighted the lack of machinery for small landholders specifically in Southern areas as well and called for closer coordination between agriculture and energy ministries. “Policies for farming should come from the farming ministries or there will always be a disconnect between what is needed and what is offered”, she added.

Fotedar emphasised the digitalisaion and added that “NCC is going to come with a digital platform so all cold storage owners can come together on the same platform”. He further emphasised the need to understand where the supply chain is breaking and a need to interconnect the rural and urban cold storage chain.”

As climate impacts intensify, SAFDE 2025 reinforced that the path to a sustainable future lies in decentralised, people-centric energy solutions. Realising the full potential of DRE will require an ecosystem that merges technology, finance, and inclusive policy to ensure energy is affordable, reliable, and accessible for all.