Apr 2025
Bindi International: Solar Mamas Bringing Light to India’s Villages
In Nandana village in Sonbhadra district, Uttar Pradesh, Urmila moves through her routine—tending to her farm, preparing meals, sweeping the floors—all under the relentless sun. There are no fans to bring relief from the heat, no flickering bulbs to push back the darkness.
As night falls, the air remains thick and unmoving, and yet, the day’s work is far from over. Urmila prepares dinner, tends to her children, and readies herself for yet another day, all while navigating the pitch-black surroundings. Here, the absence of electricity dictates life, limiting movement, opportunities, and even safety.
But a shift is underway.
Bindi International Association, a social enterprise, works across 19 states to strengthen the livelihoods of rural women in India. Through entrepreneurship, vocational training, and market access, it creates pathways to economic independence. Through its Solar Engineering Program, Bindi has trained 700 rural women, ensuring over 3,000 households have access to sustainable, community-managed electricity.
These "Solar Mamas"—women from last-mile, off-grid villages, selected in partnership with local organisations and village elders are at the heart of this effort. The selection process ensures that the women who train as solar engineers have strong ties to their communities, making them key to long-term sustainability. These women travel to Bindi’s Vocational Training Center in Harmara, Rajasthan, where they undergo a five-month hands-on training program. Designed specifically for women with little to no formal education, the curriculum replaces textbooks with practical exercises, where they learn color coding, repetition, and other hands-on practices, making technical learning accessible.
Their work is already illuminating lives in more ways than one. With their expertise, these women craft signature "Diva" Lanterns and "Bindi" Torches—durable devices that deliver up to 100 hours of uninterrupted light per charge. The impact is immediate and far-reaching: these sustainable, climate-conscious innovations have already kept over 4,000 metric tons (MT) of CO₂ out of the atmosphere in 2024! The impact is immediate and far-reaching: these sustainable, climate-conscious innovations have already kept over 4,000 metric tons (MT) of CO₂ out of the atmosphere in 2024. This is equivalent to removing the annual emissions from approximately 27% of all passenger vehicles in India for that year!
But this program is about more than just electricity. The impact is multi-layered—it creates employment, boosts income, and strengthens women’s leadership in their villages. Once trained, Solar Mamas return home not just as engineers but as change agents, capable of installing, repairing, and maintaining solar grids. They help form solar committees, ensuring that communities take ownership of their energy solutions, reducing long-term dependency on external support.
The ripple effects extend beyond lighting homes. Replacing kerosene and other polluting fuels with solar power improves indoor air quality, reduces carbon emissions, and makes homes safer. The program is a model for grassroots-led climate action—women leading the transition to clean energy, creating economic opportunities, and ensuring energy access remains in the hands of the communities themselves.
The impact doesn’t stop here!
Building on the success of the Solar Engineers initiative, Bindi’s Women Prosper program is equipping rural women with the skills, technology, and financial tools to become renewable energy entrepreneurs. this initiative is creating a network of women-led businesses, bringing sustainable energy solutions to more communities.