Thanks To An IIT Bombay Initiative, This Entire MP Village Now Cooks Food Using Solar Power

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)- Bombay and the central government have launched a joint project through which an entire village in Madhya Pradesh is powered by solar panels and induction cook-tops to cook food instead of wooden stoves and LPG cylinders, Times Now News reports.

All of the 75 houses in the Bancha village in MP’s Betul are relying on solar-powered stoves to meet their cooking needs, ANI reports quoting social activist Mohan Nagar.

“There are places in India where solar plates are used sporadically for cooking, but with the help of a team from IIT Mumbai, a special solar stove was developed. No trees are cut by the villagers now for lighting their stoves,” Nagar said.

The induction cook-tops provided by the central government and powered by solar panels, both are made by the students of IIT Bombay. The project was completed in 2018 by the central government. The activist adds that the government has set an example and can replicate the project to make villages smoke and pollution free.

The centre-run project changed the lives of residents of the village in many ways. “We don't have to go to forests and spend time collecting woods for fire anymore. Utensils and walls don't get blackened now. Food also gets cooked on time. It saves a lot of effort and time,” ANI quotes a resident of the village.