Powering Livelihoods | A CEEW-Villgro Initiative

  • Powering Livelihoods joins hands with JEEVIKA and J-WiRES in Bihar
    The partnership will deploy 1500 DRE technologies amongst women micro-entrepreneurs, develop an incubation and experience centre
  • MOU signed with Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (UPSRLM)
    The programme will support UPSRLM and Prerna Ojasto mainstream DRE solutions for livelihoods to enhance
    rural incomes in Uttar Pradesh
  • Bringing Women to the Forefront of the Energy Transition
    The webinar focuses on interventions and solutions required to integrate in the DRE-for-livelihoods ecosystem
  • "DRE for Livelihoods" at the 8th Foundation Day of AREAS
    (Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States)
    End-user Meera Jatt from Udaipur shared her experience of using a Devidayal Solar refrigerators in the dairy segment
  • 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
  • Enhancing Women’s participation
    across the value chain
    Powering Livelihoods aims to enable gender-inclusivity at all
    levels in the energy for business sector.
  • Making dreams possible
    Powering Livelihoods enables commercialisation and scaling up of clean energy-based livelihood appliances;
    inspiring new innovators and entrepreneurs
  • Meeting India’s developmental
    goals
    Powering Livelihoods helps raise rural incomes and meet climate mitigation goals.
    Credits: Inficold
4million
rural micro-enterprises highlight unreliable electricity as the top bottleneck to their businesses.
50billion +
(USD) is the market opportunity for clean energy innovations to power livelihoods in rural India.
 
Less than5
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. The initiative is supporting six cohort enterprises and nine affiliate enterprises to undertake large-scale commercial deployment for their solutions through an integrated gendered lens and use the evidence generated 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 activities
Agriculture and allied activities

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.

 

Powering Livelihood is a USD 3 million initiative to mainstream clean energy in rural livelihoods. We are seeking support from multiple donors and foundations towards the same. The Programme is also engaging with a large variety of sectoral partners to leverage their support for various activities related to programme and enterprise growth.

Donors

Partners