Those signature kerosene and petromax lamps at hawker shops have decorated our streets during its busy evenings for years now. They are a hawker’s constant companion and a basic necessity for their shops. But did you know that a hawker has to spend around 250-300 rupees every month for these lights? Parting with this big chunk of money from the handful that he earns becomes quite a burden. Accolades to Urja Unlimited, who understood this difficulty faced by the hawkers and came up with a fine solution – replacing the fuel lamps with solar power.

Urja Unlimited is an organization which was born with a novel idea of providing ‘energy for all’ through renewable energy. Urja aims to serve every village, town and city in India with efficient energy solutions. With its vision in mind, Urja initiated the project to support street hawkers and aspires to reach a million hawkers with their lanterns.

The main aim of the project is to completely eliminate the recurring fuel expenditure on the hawkers. Moreover, as we all know, there are environmental benefits attached to giving up the use exhaustible fuels. Also, the hawker gets to work in a fume free environment.

Over 150 hawkers in Faridabad enjoy the solar power

The first step towards energy efficiency was Urja Unlimited’s solar lantern project in Faridabad. Over 150 hawkers have opted for Urja’s lanterns which have given them a breather with their expenses. The brighter solar lamps have enlivened their surroundings, gotten rid of the risk of health hazards and brightened the faces of the hawkers.

Savitri Pandey, a hawker in Faridabad who has switched to Urja’s lantern, mentioned that she is now able to devote the cost savings on giving up the kerosene lamps to her children’s tuition needs. Saina Bano says that “Ab har mahina mittiktel (kerosene oil) chori se kharidane kay jhanjhat khatam.” Ashok, a hawker suffering from Tuberculosis, said that he is now spending less on his medical expenses.

Support to spread the cause

Replicating the success and spreading awareness across the country is a big task in the hands of Urja Unlimited now. The constraint is that the equipment is slightly priced on the higher side, around 2600 to 3600 rupees. Logically, the amount is equivalent to what the hawkers would spend over a year for their fuel costs and they need not spend any more on their fuels after this initial investment. Also, the lanterns can easily serve the users for almost 5 to 7 years. Urja intends to bring down the cost that could come on the hawkers by entering into partnerships with micro finance institutions, corporates and other philanthropic organizations.

How can you help this initiative?

With more people like you supporting the cause, we are sure that we can make some difference to the lives of more street hawkers. Here are a few things that you can do:

• Introduce Urja Unlimited to your company and encourage a corporate social responsibility initiative
• Contact Urja Unlimited to find out more about the initiative and help them serve better
• Help spread awareness about the use of renewable energy

You can know more about the organization at www.urjaunlimited.in. Urja and The Better India shall assist you in sharing your contributions.

Fishermen casting their nets at night, a nomadic tribe in Kutch area of Gujarat, a small hut in a regular hamlet that lights the evening shadows with the help of a tiny wick lamp – these are just some of the beneficiaries of the new LED revolution. Led by InnovLite, a four-year old technology firm based in Bangalore, these lights and lighting solutions are hugely energy efficient, resulting in upto 60 per cent savings, recouping their higher initial costs within six months.

Started by BR Raghav, InnovLite is a profitable organization whose turnover is trebling every year, and it aims to achieve a target of Rs. 6 crore in the current financial year. Subir Roy of Business Standard writes more about this successful enterprise:

InnovLite’s products are all designed by it and put together from commercially available components, with only the LED element imported. Raghav, a 44 year old electrical and electronics engineer who earlier ran a data storage venture, has not cared to patent his products but bases his business model on being a moving target which is difficult for emulators to beat.

His forte is a combination of early start, rapid commercialisation and quick scaling. By the time a challenger arrives InnovLite has moved on, powered by the same kind of improvement in the efficiency of LED devices as is benchmarked by Moore’s law in the case of semiconductors.

Global lighting players find it difficult to come up with such do-it-yourself solutions because, he says, their development costs are high and they have legacy problems. Such products will also tend to cannibalise their existing products.

While LED lighting has already been adopted by large business establishments for its energy and cost savings, it is yet to reach the masses in a big way. But the future looks bright with companies like InnovLite, who have discovered the fortune at the bottom at the pyramid, and are benefiting millions of others, besides themselves, in the process.

Read the complete article here.
Image Courtesy: Ecofriend