Lighting up houses in rural India with solar power

Until a few days ago, Keshav Mengal from a small hamlet in Raigad, Maharashtra, would have been without electricity for about five hours every day, sometimes even at night. During the monsoon, the power outages would last even longer. His children found it difficult to study at night and families had to wrap up their household chores before sunset. As part of the CSR How We Live programme, Deutsche Bank collaborated with Swades Foundation to change that. The bank provided 4,800 households with solar-powered kits so that Keshav and nearly 20,000 other people in Raigad don’t have to worry about power outages disrupting their lives anymore.

Towards a sustainable future

The kits, each containing three LED lights and a mobile charging port, are much more than a source of power to the households. With up to 16 hours of electricity on a full charge, the beneficiaries can use them even when they have electricity supply too, thereby reducing monthly power bills. As the regular electricity supply comes mainly from non-renewable sources of energy, by using these solar lamps the 4,800 households can potentially offset approximately 32 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. This is equivalent to avoiding 30 round trips between Mumbai and Singapore by plane or planting around 850 trees, per year.

Employees participate

Earlier this month, 60 employees from Mumbai and Pune visited three villages to distribute the solar kits. Volunteers interacted with the residents of the villages and witnessed first-hand the impact of the initiative. Shanker Mahadevan, Global Process Head, Tax Operations said, “There is a clear and present need to move towards more sustainable ways of living. Our effort in Raigad, will not only change the lives of people from these villages but provide a greener future for everyone. I hope such sustainable initiatives become mainstream even in urban settings, giving every generation a renewed hope for the future.”

A long-standing partnership

Deutsche Bank has partnered with Swades Foundation for seven years to set up drinking water schemes that provide rural households with potable water through a tap in every home. The bank has also planted trees on uncultivable land to augment the income of Indian farmers and preserve local biodiversity. Over the last three years, the bank has planted 100,000 fruit-bearing trees in Maharashtra.