By Sekhar Seshan. Consulting Editor, Business India

Moving from simple sustainable energy solutions to advocacy for a paradigm shift in development interventions with a replicable ecosystem approach democratises development, SELCO believes. This, explains its co-founder and MD Harish Hande, institutionalises inclusivity, encourages localised solutions and enforces grassroots ownership – all without compromising the environment. This approach has enabled the 25-year-old company to radiate out of its Bengaluru headquarters and impact more than 300,000 families in various part of India.

While the 20th and 21st centuries have seen unprecedented advancement for human civilisation in terms of technology, transportation and communications, millions around the world have little or no access to fundamental services like basic health, education, clean water and livelihoods, Hande points out. Climate change has now added to the problems with floods, droughts and cyclones.

Concentrating on the energy nexus with some of the most critical human needs like health, livelihood and energy, SELCO and its 10-year-old Foundation uses decentralised renewable energy systems to design interventions where they are required – democratising the entire process. A pregnant woman in Arunachal Pradesh, for instance, need not be taken far for a reliable delivery: it can be done at the solar-powered local public health centre; a student living near Loktak lake in Manipur can get solar-powered digital education; a seamstress in Chitradurga, Karnataka, can increase her productivity by using her solar-powered sewing machine; and a farmer producer organisation can use a solar-powered cold storage system to keep its produce fresh. Focussing on the North East, Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar, the Foundation is proving that development and sustainability can go hand in hand.