This report captures insights from 49 villages, covering over 330 farmers, and includes a detailed Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis showing a 4.35x return for every rupee invested in Oorja’s services in social, economic, and environmental value.
From reaching over 120 on-farm solar projects impacting nearly 30,000 beneficiaries to expanding our team to 72 passionate changemakers, 2023 was a year of incredible progress. We secured $1 million in impact funding and welcomed mission-aligned investors to our board. We won the…
This report captures Oorja’s work in 2022 across 7 districts, reaching over 14,000 beneficiaries through solar-powered irrigation, milling, and cooling services. It highlights a 57% average increase in farmer income, the launch of climate-smart advisory services, and early outcomes on crop diversification, diesel cost savings, and women’s participation in sustainable farming.
This report presents Oorja’s 2022 impact assessment across 19 villages in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, focusing on the outcomes of its solar-powered irrigation and milling services. It highlights improvements in crop diversification, reduction in diesel use, enhanced convenience for farmers, time and cost savings, and increased participation of women in sustainable farming practices.
This report by IWMI benchmarks the performance of off-grid solar irrigation pumps in Eastern and Central India, including systems operated by Oorja in Bahraich and Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. It assesses usage patterns, irrigated area, revenue models, and equity of access to understand the drivers of efficiency and impact. The study highlights key insights into improving the performance and utilization of solar pumps to maximize social return and support rural livelihoods.
This report by GOGLA explores how decentralized renewable energy solutions are enabling productive use technologies across sectors like agriculture, food processing, and retail. Featuring Oorja’s solar irrigation model in India, the report highlights the impact of clean energy on livelihoods, business viability, and local economies, while offering recommendations to scale PURE solutions globally.
This sector-defining research spotlights the gap in access to life-changing, off-grid solar appliances for millions worldwide. The report features Oorja’s Irrigation-as-a-Service model as a crucial tool to transform the lives of smallholder farmers in India by making it sustainable.
WE4F’s 2023 Annual Report has highlighted Oorja’s gender mainstreaming and digitisation efforts. Our innovative use of digital technologies, including smart metres, digital payment systems, digital flowmeters, and remote monitoring features, has revolutionised pay-per-use solar i…
The report highlights Oorja’s innovative Pay-Per-Use business model, which bridges the energy access gap by making solar-powered irrigation affordable for smallholder farmers. Farmers can now access timely irrigation without the expense and labor of diesel pumps. Our model turns…
Over the past four years, 60 Decibels interviewed 79,000+ customers of 160+ energy organisations from 30+ countries to hear their experiences with energy access. They also surveyed Oorja’s irrigation customers in Uttar Pradesh, India. This report provides a deep, bottom-up analys…
BASE Foundation has launched a training manual for cold storage operators. Co-authored by Oorja along with Koel Fresh, CoolCrop and ColdHubs, the manual is a comprehensive and accessible guide that consolidates essential information for maintaining top-quality food standards.
Food waste has been a major issue in India due to the lack of cold storage facilities. As of 2022, an estimated 40% of the food produced in the country was wasted. This report studies the gap in the cold storage infrastructure and emerging solutions to address the issue. The repo…
Ren 21 has acknowledged Oorja’s CEO and Co-founder Amit Saraogi for his contrbutions to the Renewables 2023 Global Status Report: Economic and Social Value Creation. The report explores the wide range of benefitsthat renewable energy can offer beyond the supply of energy. From th…
Ren 21 has acknowledged Oorja’s CEO and Co-founder Amit Saraogi for his contrbutions to the Renewables 2023 Global Status Report: Energy Supply. The report delves into the intricacies of renewable energyprogress, examining the distribution of energy among carriers and addressing…
60 Decibels conducted an external impact assessment to assess the satisfaction level of our Oonnati pump operators based in 7 districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. They conducted telephonic interviews with 28 such jobholders – 48 percent of whom have been working with Oorja for more…
60 Decibels conducted an external impact assessment to assess the satisfaction level of 277 Oonnati irrigation customers across 7 districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. The report covers various parameters to including usage, experience, consumer protection and impact.
There is a rapid evolution of agtech startups involved in irrigation in India. We highlightkey emerging trends for these startups: transitions from hardware sales to software sales and services; bundling with other agricultural products and vertical integration; and varied partne…
Nearly half of India’s agriculture is irrigated, making it an ideal testbed for irrigated agtechbusiness models. We see an increasing number of entrepreneurial ventures seeking to make an impact in the agricultural water sector to support smallholders. However, little infor…
With ever-changing global climatic conditions and growing demand for sustainable food production, cold chain technologies are critical for improving food security, reducing food waste, enhancing farmers’ livelihoods, and supporting adaptation to climate change. These technologies…
This report explores the immediate impact of the CatalyzeTech project supported by the SELCO Foundation and implemented by Oorja Development Solutions India Private Limited. The project, which was implemented in the Spring of 2022, aimed to train 500 smallholder and marginalised…
Nearly 75% of the economically active women in India are engaged in agriculture, out of which one-third are cultivators and around half are agricultural laborers. The agricultural sector in India contributes to 14% of the GDP and is an essential source of economic growth, employm…
Beath et al. (2021) , Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition Data from residential users of Oorja’s solar micro-grid in Sarvantara, Bahraich district, Uttar Pradesh were used to build demand profiles of rural users. The study investigated the benefit in terms of emissions and cost reductions of…
Chambon et al. (2020) , Renewable Energy This paper presents a techno-economic feasibility case study of biomass gasification in off-grid and grid-connected mini-grids for community-scale energy application in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. Energy demand data was collected by Oorja through surveys in a…
Sandwell et al. (2016) , Energy for Sustainable Development In this paper, Oorja’s founders teamed up with researchers to survey BoP rural households in Uttar Pradesh, India. The survey aimed to analyse access to and usage of modern and traditional energy sources. It found that a typical household w…
