CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: The Powering Livelihoods programme has committed approximately INR 1 crore in funding to scale up new cleantech innovations in the DRE sector. The programme has on-boarded six new DRE innovators while continuing to support 11 others. The programme, spearheaded by the leading think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and Villgro, one of India’s oldest and largest social enterprise incubators, has supported adopting cleantech solutions to transform rural livelihoods. Some examples of these technologies include solar refrigerators, food processing machines, solar-powered reeling and spinning machines, biomass cold storage, and solar dryers.
The six newly onboarded enterprises – Temperate Technologies, Takachar, Jaljeevika InfoTech, Saptkrishi Scientific, SEMA and Oscillo Machines – will receive support from the newly created funding pool for scaling their innovations. These DRE solutions enhance productivity and promote local production and value addition in the fisheries, grain processing, and crop residue management sectors to positively impact rural livelihoods.
Abhishek Jain, Fellow and Director – Powering Livelihoods, CEEW, said, “India needs to create economic opportunities at a quicker pace, given its growing young population. Urban jobs can not be the only solution. We need to enhance livelihood opportunities closer to where the bulk production happens and where most people are. But, it must be done in a sustainable and climate-resilient way – that’s exactly what Powering Livelihoods does. With our experience over the years, we are now doubling down to strive for an even greater impact.”
Ananth Aravamudan, Chief of Programs and Strategy, Villgro, said, “We have seen DRE technologies mature over the years, in terms of reliability and proven business models. The stage is set to scale these technologies through access to markets and access to finance. Powering Livelihoods has the track record and resources to make this happen. We believe that not just the innovations, but also the ecosystem consisting of channel partners, financiers and policymakers will see a huge upside through our efforts.”
