In 2019, India achieved a historic landmark of reaching near-universal household connectivity to electricity, meaning that over 900 million citizens have gained an electric connection to their households in the past two decades. However, power outages continue in large parts of the country. In some areas, such outages can last for several hours on a daily basis. Deploying renewable energy quickly in these communities would help address a range of issues, including air pollution from the use of backup generators as well as energy inequity and female participation in the workforce. Savitha Sridharan founded Orora Global in 2014 as a social enterprise with a technological solution: the Orora PowerHub. This product can combines solar photovoltaics and batteries in different configurations to in a couple of innovative ways to meet the specific needs of low-income communities in India. Today, Orora is helping to cheaply power sewing machines, fridges and lighting to a path out of a cycle of poverty. This conversation, recorded in early March 2022, covers Savitha’s passions for engineering, social impact and running, as well as her successes in raising skills and capital in both India and the United States.

Further reading:

1. Orora Global: https://www.ororaglobal.com/
2. Covid-19 slows progress toward universal energy access, IEA 2022: https://www.iea.org/news/covid-19-slows-progress-toward-universal-energy-access
3. Net Zero by 2050, IEA 2021: https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050
4. ETP Clean Energy Technology Guide, IEA 2021: https://www.iea.org/articles/etp-clean-energy-technology-guide
5. India Energy Outlook 2021: https://www.iea.org/reports/india-energy-outlook-2021

This episode is hosted by Siddharth Singh and Simon Bennett. It was produced by Rakesh Kamal (Suno India). Additional production help was provided by Rob Stone and Allison Leacu.