• Productive Power for Smallholder Farmers

    • Oorja kickstarts CatalyzeTech project in partnership with Selco Foundation

      In this project, training modules will be developed to mobilise and train 500 small and marginal farmers to grow high-value crops and increase their agricultural income. Simultaneously, 10 women farmers or "Krishi Sakhis" will be empowered to assist in daily operation and maintenance of agricultural technologies.

      Oorja among UN Best Small Business winners

      Selected from nearly 2,000 applications from 135 countries, the 50 winners all showcase inspiring, diverse, and impactful solutions in improving access to healthy, sustainable food. They will also share US$100,000 in cash prizes. Read more about the hidden heroes of our food systems here.

      Oorja CEO Amit Saraogi shortlisted for Waislitz Award

      Amit Saraogi has been shortlisted for this award in recognition of his dedication to ending extreme poverty.

       

      Oorja stands to win an award of up to $100,000, but we need your help now in the public voting process. Please click on the link below to vote for Amit and share this with your friends and colleagues too!

      The 'cool' revolution is here.

      We proudly announce the launch of Oonnayan - India's 1st decentralised PAYG Cooling-as-a-Service for smallholder farmers in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar. They will now be able to store their horticulture produce, extend shelf life and realise higher prices, increasing their incomes.

       

      This third integrated productive use service in our growing portfolio being delivered through an inclusive, sustainable and customer-centric model will build resilience, enhance food security, expand livelihoods and reduce poverty.

      Oorja wins SEIF Tech for Impact Award

      This year the SEIF Awards 2021 Tech for Impact received 336 applications. Following two rounds of live pitches, the jury awarded the SEIF Award for Scalable Solutions to Oorja.

      Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) Grand Challenge Awardees Announced

      Oorja was selected among the 15 winners of the WE4F South and Southeast Asia Grant Challenge. WE4F supports innovations in water, energy and food and will invest $180,000 in expanding Oorja's Agri-Energy services across northern India in 2021-22. WE4F is an international partnership supported by USAID, the European Union, and international development agencies of Germany, Sweden and The Netherlands.

       

       

    • About us

      We are a Farming as a service (FaaS) company working at the intersection between agriculture and clean energy. We provide irrigation, milling and cooling services to smallholder farmers on a pay-per-use basis.

      We finance and install decentralised solar energy systems at the farm level. There is no upfront cost charged to end-users.
       

      We operate and maintain these solar systems for their full lifetime. 

       

      We sell reliable and affordable farming services powered by solar energy to farmers. Our business model is pay-per-use. This means users pay according to the amount of irrigation water pumped, produce milled or stored. 

    • Our farming services

      💦 Irrigation as a service. 

      Available on-farm on a per-litre basis.

      ❄️ Cooling as a service. 

      Available at the farm gate on a per-crate basis.

      ⚡ Agroprocessing as a service.

      Available on-farm at a per-kg rate.

    • How we work

      Finance

      We raise finance for the company to invest in community-scale agri infrastructure. This is typically blended capital.

      Site identification

      We identify or receive referrals for potential project sites where smallholder farmers rely on diesel power for their energy needs.

      Demand assessment

      Our ground team conducts farmer consultation to assess demand for our services. We form groups of interested farmers and may collect membership fees from them.

      Installation

      We procure equipment from reputed domestic suppliers and complete civil works, installation testing and commissioning of solar systems.

      Service delivery

      We hire an Operator from the local community and train them to deliver irrigation, milling or cooling services and maintain a sales register.

      Paying-per-use

      Customers pay the Operator based on their consumption at affordable tariffs. For example, irrigation is paid per litre based on a flowmeter.

      Ops and maintenance

      Our ground team conducts regular maintenance and repairs, ensuring services are hassle-free and keeping our customers happy.

      Monitoring

      We monitor project performance and collect annual impact data. This helps us to assess the economic, social and environmental benefits.

    • Impact

      We are aligned to 5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

      Access to affordable, reliable energy is fundamental to economic activity and poverty alleviation. It enables people to use appliances and machines that help them to seek better livelihoods, increase their food security, access quality education, breathe cleaner air and live in a cleaner environment, and lead lives of greater dignity and less hard labour. Oorja's services are designed to transform the lives of low-income communities, notably small and marginal farmers, low-income households and women farmers, by significantly increasing income when linked to productive activities at their farm. Displacing diesel - a fossil fuel - in favour of solar energy also delivers significant carbon emissions savings.

    • 186.0

      PV capacity (kWp)

      4,488

      Lives impacted

      15

      jobs created in

      last-mile rural communities

      15,463

      litres of diesel and

      kerosene saved

      40.7

      tonnes CO2eq saved

    • Award-winning innovation

    • Featured in

      In April 2016 we were awarded Social Innovation of the Year by MIT Technology Review and recognized as one of 10 Innovators Under 35 France.

    • Investors

    • Ecosystem Partners

      a growing roster of renowned practitioners and ecosystem enablers in the off-grid clean energy space in India to influence critical issues related to policy, financing, training and technology.

       

       

      We’re happy to announce Oorja is the official Indian partner of Charge, the world’s first Energy Branding Conference.

    • Get in touch

    Copyright © Oorja Development Solutions Limited 2021

    Images © Oorja Development Solutions India and © Adam Barr.

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