Bajaj Electricals Foundation wins 2026 Mahatma Award for clean energy

NEW DELHI: Bajaj Electricals Foundation has won the 2026 Mahatma Award for Affordable and Clean Energy for its ‘Flame of Change’ Improved Cookstove Project, which aims to reduce rural households’ dependence on firewood while improving cooking conditions and household well-being.

The award recognises the Foundation’s work in providing fuel-efficient cookstoves to rural communities in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. The initiative has so far distributed 14,000 improved cookstoves across Karauli and Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan, and Jawhar and Vikramgad in Maharashtra.

The programme has reached more than 70,000 people across over 175 villages, while also creating 47 women entrepreneurs and 48 rural jobs.

The award was received by Pooja Anant Bajaj, chairperson of Bajaj Electricals Foundation, along with the CSR team. The ceremony was attended by Kiran Bedi, former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry and the first woman IPS officer; Rajya Sabha MP Santrupt Misra; and Amit Sachdeva, founder of the Mahatma Award and chairperson of Mahatma Foundation.

The recognition comes in 2026, which marks the centenary year of the Bajaj Group. The Foundation said the award also reflects the group’s longstanding focus on social responsibility and values-based leadership rooted in the ideals of its founder, Jamnalal Bajaj.

Bajaj Electricals Foundation chairperson Pooja Anant Bajaj said the initiative builds on that legacy by combining community development with environmental responsibility.

“When a woman in Karauli saves seven hours a day and breathes cleaner air in her own kitchen, those values are at work,” said Bajaj Electricals Foundation chairperson Pooja Anant Bajaj.

The impact of the Flame of Change project has also been independently assessed. An ISO 14064-compliant carbon and social impact assessment covering 8,000 cookstoves distributed in Rajasthan found a 73 per cent reduction in household firewood use.

The assessment also recorded savings of approximately seven hours a day in cooking and fuel collection. Over its five-year project life, the Rajasthan component is projected to mitigate about 222,711 tCO₂e of carbon emissions.

A similar assessment covering the remaining 6,000 cookstoves distributed in Maharashtra is currently underway.

The project is aligned with three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy, SDG 13 on climate action and SDG 15 on life on land.

Established in 2017, Bajaj Electricals Foundation is the CSR arm of Bajaj Electricals and operates under the broader Bajaj Group legacy of responsible business and social development.

With a stated purpose of creating a “Better Planet, Better Life”, the Foundation focuses on environmental sustainability, community well-being and inclusive growth.

It also supports CSR implementation for other Bajaj Group entities, including Bajel Projects, Indef Manufacturing and Bajaj Trusts, working with communities, NGOs and development partners.

The Mahatma Award adds another recognition to the Foundation’s efforts to link clean-energy adoption with measurable improvements in rural livelihoods and household conditions.