Powering Livelihoods | A CEEW-Villgro Initiative

  • Bridging the commercial valley
    of death
    Powering Livelihoods provides capacity building and up to USD 250,000 worth financial support to enterprises.
    Credits: Kissan Dharambir
  • Making dreams possible
    Powering Livelihoods enables commercialisation and scaling up of clean energy-based livelihood
    appliances; inspiring new innovators and entrepreneurs.
  • Unlocking sectoral support
    Powering Livelihoods will generate a critical mass of evidence of clean energy applications in the rural economy and unlock support from investors, policymakers, and financiers.
  • Meeting India’s developmental
    goals
    Powering Livelihoods helps raise rural incomes and meet climate mitigation goals.
    Credits: Inficold
4 million
rural micro-enterprises highlight unreliable electricity as the top bottleneck to their businesses.
50 billion +
(USD) is the market opportunity for clean energy innovations to power livelihoods in rural India.
 
<5
clean energy innovations for livelihoods have been commercialised at scale though over 20 already exist in the market.

What is Powering Livelihoods?

Powering Livelihoods, a CEEW-Villgro initiative, aims to boost India’s rural economy by scaling up the penetration of clean energy-powered appliances for livelihoods. Over three years, the initiative will support at least five enterprises to undertake large-scale commercial deployment of their solutions and use the generated evidence to catalyse the sector.

 

Support for enterprises

Powering Livelihoods will meet the unique needs of each selected enterprise through dedicated financial, technical, and sectoral growth support.

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Impact

Powering Livelihoods aims to transform India’s rural economy and achieve tangible impact at the end-user, enterprise, and ecosystem-level.

 

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Focus areas

Agriculture and allied value chains
Agriculture and allied value chains

Value addition in agriculture and allied produce could significantly improve incomes for more than half of India’s population. As part of Powering Livelihoods, our focus is on enterprises deploying appliances such as clean energy-powered or energy efficient commercial food processors, juicers, dryers, milk chillers, flour mills, milking machines, cold storage, rice hullers, and oil expellers.

 

Textiles
Textiles

Textile industry is India’s second largest employer. As part of Powering Livelihoods, our focus is on enterprises developing or deploying innovative appliances such as solar charkhas, sewing machines, paddle loom, jute machinery, and silk reelers which could improve productivity, reduce drudgery, and raise incomes.

 

Application process

Applications are now closed.

For queries, please write to info@poweringlivelihoods.org.

Who can apply ?

  • Enterprises developing or deploying innovative DRE-powered / energy efficient appliances for productive use.
  • The enterprise’s product caters to agriculture and allied value chains or the textile industry.
  • The product is technologically mature and validated with customers, with some level of deployment (ranging in 0’s - 000’s).
  • We encourage applications from enterprises promoting inclusion in their business philosophy, particularly at the end-user level. Inclusivity may include a focus on gender, marginalised communities, or other deprived sections of the society.

Who shouldn't apply ?

  • Enterprises looking for grants to develop/ validate/ pilot their technology.
  • Enterprises having reservations regarding equity or debt financing.
  • Enterprises having a product without an energy efficiency or DRE-powered component.
  • Products not related to textile or agriculture and allied value chains.