BWI: Collective Community Building by TERI and Uninor

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Monday, April 11, 2011 04:53 PM IST (11:23 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Environment, People, Social issues; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Energy companies, Information technology, Telecommunications
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Collective Community Building by TERI and Uninor
Light, connectivity and empowerment to reach 20 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Monday, April 11, 2011 -- (Business Wire India) -- The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Uninor under their respective social initiatives will be enhancing the lives of 5000+ people living in 20 villages of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The strategic social partnership between TERI's 'Lighting a Billion Lives' (LaBL) and Uninor's 'Aditi Urja Vikas' campaign will help extend solar charging facilities in rural India.

This mutually beneficial initiative is not just about spreading awareness on solar energy but is also about encouraging a sustainable model of economic growth among rural women. Under this collaboration, a local community woman will be selected and trained to take the responsibility for day-to-day operations of the charging station. Solar lanterns are rented out by this new entrepreneur against payment of a nominal amount every evening, and returned in the morning to be recharged. Mobile phone charging through solar energy is also provided to the rural community. In addition, Uninor will also help create income generation opportunities for the woman entrepreneur by training them on selling mobile telecom services locally.

Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Director-General, TERI and Mr. Rajiv Bawa, Executive Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Uninor are pleased to enter into this partnership, which though is a small step but will make a huge difference in the lives of many.

"The LaBL campaign is a visionary initiative, which cannot be fulfilled by TERI alone. Corporate partners like Uninor who too believe in the ethos of the campaign will help us reach a billion lives. With roughly 25% of 1.4 billion across the world still toiling in darkness in India alone, LaBL is not just about alternate energy but it is about empowering the underpowered through solar power", said, Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Director-General, TERI.

Mr. Rajiv Bawa, Executive Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Uninor, said, "Our responsibility program is just about as old as we are in the market. But we believe that you don't need to be old and established to start making a difference. We have ensured that our initiatives are always rooted in the business we are in and are always focused on empowerment. This is essential for sustainability. We today join a campaign that both TERI and Dr. Pachauri are passionate about and we are proud to step in with our effort".

Till date the LaBL campaign has enlightened almost 200,000 people in India covering 650 villages across 16 states in India and the journey continues.

About LaBL:

The campaign was formally inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, on 7 February 2008 during DSDS (Delhi Sustainable Development Summit). The Campaign aims to bring light into the lives of one billion rural people by replacing the kerosene and paraffin lanterns with solar lighting devices. This will facilitate education of children; provide better illumination and kerosene-smoke-free indoor environment for women to do household chores; and provide opportunities for livelihoods both at the individual level and at village level. In terms of physical targets, it translates into 200,000,000 solar lanterns in use saving about 40-60 liters of kerosene/year and benefiting about 5 members per family.

About Aditi Urja Vikas (AUV):

Aditi Urja Vikas (AUV) is a Uninor initiative to promote entrepreneurship through solar power and training in the mobile trade. AUV's solar component helps power villages through solar charging, with an additional income generation component through telecommunication technology encouraging a sustainable model of economic growth among rural women.

Uninor launched this programme by sponsoring 20 villages under TERI's LaBL (Lighting a Billion Lives) campaign. It plans to expand the AUV initiative in Orissa, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand in 2011.



CONTACT DETAILS
Rajiv Chhibber, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), +91 9810426698, rajivc@teri.res.in
Lalima Bose, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), +91 9810161449, lalima.bose@teri.res.in

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, ENVIRONMENT, PEOPLE, SOCIAL, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, ENERGY, IT, TELECOMMUNICATIONS

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