Success India Magazine Team
Sachin Shigwan – Founder, Green India Initiative Pvt Ltd
Green India Initiative Pvt Ltd (GIIPL) www.giipl.in is a Mumbai based firm working in the crucial sector areas of rural development through solar energy since 2014. Started contributing to various green energy projects in educational growth such as school and anganwadi electrification, gram energy project such as solar street lights, solar water pump systems, solar water filtration systems, solar cooker & solar home lighting systems. GIIPL also deals in numerous livelihood projects such as solar agricultural pump, solar-powered machines like sewing machines, papad machines, agarbatti making machines & pattravali machines, etc. It aspires to electrify 1000 villages and facilitate energy access to rural citizens by 2025.
Sachin Shigwan started GIIPL at the age of 28 years. He is from a very humble and down-to-earth family. Since his childhood days, he was having a very creative mind and creating new innovative techniques in each field was his passion. He faced a lot of difficulties during his teenage years and has completed his graduation in the field of commerce. After that, he started working in a people-oriented company as an employee, but always wanted to work in the social field, so that he can extend his help to the society in every possible way.
During his tenure as a Rotary Club member and while surveying the village he observed that villagers were deprived of basic amenities such as electricity, water scarcity, food and infrastructure development. To bring in change in this setup, he spoke to his mentor and addressed those societal problems. That’s when his mentor guided him, and gave him an idea about solar energy & its applications and also introduced him to social entrepreneurship. Sachin grabbed this golden opportunity & started working as a social entrepreneur in the field of Rural Development & Renewable Energy sector.
Environment conscious Sachin has been duly recognised as ‘Solar Man of India’ and has taken up the mission to light up the lives of millions of underprivileged people with the help of renewable (solar) energies. He has completed his MBA in Social Entrepreneurship & has contributed towards the enhancement of society over the last decade. He is one of the unique entrepreneurs whose working style is bilateral, where he executes CSR projects with a proper strategic plan & on another side; he is training the youth, like-minded people and corporate employees while conducting workshops on solar energy. Till date, Sachin has completed more than 100+ workshops (online/offline) and has trained more than 5000+ beneficiaries through his program. The Solar Man has learned various things during his life journey which will be impacting in his foresight days. Recently he has also been recognized on the TEDx Platform of BHIS Kanpur for his exceptional work towards the rural part of India. His GIIPL has seen a lot of hardships and struggles to reach the position where it stands today.
USP of GIIPL is to accelerate the rural development with innovative & sustainable renewable energy projects having long-term impacts. Now-a-days, people are shifting to solar energy products to overcome the dependency of fossil fuels. The solar energy products are 24X7 free energy access to the universe which benefits the people. Going with a solar energy, people can have a handsome ROI within 4 years. According to Sachin,
“Energy crisis is a concern due to world’s increasing demands of limited natural resources available on the earth. Due to the increase in demand for electricity across the country, the purchase price of electricity is becoming more expensive too. Gram Energy Program is designed & executed by GIIPL to improve and ensure rural electrification which contains school infrastructure & electrification, water availability, potable water arrangement, street lighting, and livelihood opportunities through solar energy.”
Sachin considers Deepak Gadhia an inspiration for his exceptional work over the last three decades in the thermal solar sector. Mr Gadhia is fondly called ‘The Father of Thermal Solar’ in India. He has provided solar steam cooking systems for various institutions, religious temples & communities so that people can also eat healthy & nutritious food through solar energy. Infact, Mr Gadhia drew attention of Sachin towards the problems of rural areas and propelled him to do sustainable work with the help of solar energy. Mr Gadhia has been his mentor too.
The concept of the Green India Initiative came into Sachin’s mind when he met with an accident in his teenage years. During the late evening hours, he was studying under the kerosene lamps and accidentally, the kerosene lamp fell on his hand. In India, also millions of people are suffering from burns as a result of kerosene lamps. To overcome this type of issue in the market, he started distributing solar study lamps which could have substantial positive health impacts on the users. However, when he started the concept, no one believed his idea and vision. But his mother had faith in him and one of his friends trusted him. Later, he bagged many good CSR projects to developed rural India. As per the government norms, there are so many changes done before and after COVID scenario he has balanced out all the problems in systematic way. The major learning through the CSR activity is that electricity is the main component for the development of community, village, city & country.
Sachin has plethora of awards and recognition in his kitty because of his exemplary social work. He bagged Professional Citizen Karamveer Puraskar – Advertising 2010, followed by Dr Shirin Gadhia Sustainability Award 2014. He has also been recognized as Top Most Green Leaders (Global) and recognized by Sony BBC Earth as “Earth Champion”. He has been a Sustainable Champion by Sustainability Champion, and is recognized on the TEDx Platform of BHIS Kanpur. Apart from this, his GIIPL has received Global Solar Leadership Award 2015, Maharashtracha Lokpriya Brand 2019, Young Social Entrepreneur Award 2020, CSR Awards – In Startup Category 2020, Best Socio Enterprise of the Year – Solar (2020-21), and Greenpreneur Award 2022 – Rural Development Sector. And we wish there are many more to come.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
Sachin Shigwan is a recipient of Noble Laureate:
1. Professional Citizen Karamveer Puraskar – Advertising 2010
2. Dr. Shirin Gadhia Sustainability Award 2014
3. Mr. Sachin Shigwan has also recognized as Top Most Green Leaders (Global)
4. Recognized by Sony BBC Earth as “Earth Champion”
5. Recognized as Sustainable Champion by Sustainability Champion.
6. Recognized on the TEDx Platform of BHIS Kanpur.
Green India Initiative is Recipient of Awards:
1. Global Solar Leadership Award 2015
2. Maharashtracha Lokpriya Brand 2019
3. Young Social Entrepreneur Award 2020
4. CSR Awards – In Startup Category 2020
5. Best Socio Enterprise of the Year – Solar (2020-21)
6. Greenpreneur Award 2022 – Rural Development Sector
