ONGC distributes solar chulhas in Betul district, Madhya Pradesh

India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) said that it has distributed 86 solar chulhas (solar photovoltaic cook-stoves) to poor households in Betul district, Madhya Pradesh.

India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated a solar PV cooker stove project in Bacha village of the Betul district. The project has been set up by Bharat Bharati Shiksha Samiti with the help of ONGC and IIT Bombay.

ONGC got the solar chulhas designed and developed with an investment of nearly INR 90 lakhs. The solar chulhas were developed by IIT Bombay, having won the ONGC Solar Chulha Challenge.

Dharmendra Pradhan during the distribution of solar chulhas in Betul district, Madhya Pradesh by ONGC. Photo courtesy of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.

The objective of the ONGC Solar Chulha Challenge is to develop cost effective and efficient solar powered stove system in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of giving people a safe and low cost alternative for clean household cooking.

ONGC said that 74 solar chulhas were distributed to poor households across Bacha Gram Panchayat in Ghodadongri Tehsil, while the remaining 12 were given in Jamthi village school.