During the COVID lockdown, Tukaram Sonawane and Sonali Veljali returned to their native town Andarsul village in Maharashtra.

Returning home for the first time in 14 years, Tukaram realised not much had changed in his village.

The struggle of farmers to reap yields was still prevalent.

There was little mechanisation and continued dependence on cattle.

The animals were expensive to maintain and farmers often shared resources.

As a solution to this, the couple decided to build a small machine to help farmers.

Locals contributed by sharing the issues they faced and solutions they were looking for.

After endless nights, they came up with a machine that could perform well.

“Once the farm is ready after ploughing, and the first rain is received, the machine can take care of all the maintenance work, from sowing until the harvest,” Tukaram says.

When they introduced their innovation at the Centre of Excellence Motion, Pune, a jury member suggested they convert the device into an electric one.

Based on this recommendation, the duo conceived the ‘Electric Bull’.

Sonali says their product is the ‘first-ever axle-less’ vehicle in its segment.

While conventional methods require about Rs 50,000 for maintaining 2 acres of land, their ‘bull’ does the same in Rs 5,000. Additionally, it can be charged on any single-phase unit and requires 2 hours for a full charge.

Sonali says the lockdown allowed them to empathise with their community. “We want to change the destiny of farmers for the better.”