In remote pockets of Udaipur district, a quiet revolution is simmering in kitchens. Through Udaipur Urja Initiatives (UUI) and Seva Mandir, over 18,500 rural households have received improved biomass cookstoves, each family getting two units at heavily subsidized rates. These stoves are designed to use less firewood, generate significantly less smoke, and maintain high efficiency marking a shift from traditional indoor chulhas.

Impact data is vivid: households using these stoves save 20,000+ kg of wood per year, and in many cases, cooking time decreases by up to 45 minutes a day, freeing up time for women who are the primary cooks to engage in other activities.

While health benefits may take longer to surface, the initial energy savings and convenience are already drawing wide appreciation.

UUI’s approach is as much social as technological. The program trains and employs over 100 women monitors from within villages to distribute stoves, support usage, and collect monthly usage data via simple digital tools ensuring community ownership and ongoing support.

These eco-stoves are more than kitchen upgrades. They’re climate-friendly technology, time-savers, and engines of local empowerment—an intersection of sustainability and rural upliftment grounded in thoughtful design and inclusive implementation.