Chhattisgarh Launches DWEEPTI Yojana for Women-Led Solar Entrepreneurship

Key facts

• The Chhattisgarh government launched the DWEEPTI Yojana (Decentralised Women Empowerment on Energy and Policy for Transformative Inclusion) to enable rural women's self-help groups to become vendors, technicians, managers, and entrepreneurs in the solar power sector.
• The scheme was developed by the state's Panchayat and Rural Development Department in collaboration with Transform Rural India under the Green Economy Transition Mission.
• Chhattisgarh is the first state in India to adopt a women-led distributed renewable energy policy under this initiative.
• Under the scheme, 13 Cluster Level Federations across 12 districts have been registered as authorised vendors under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana in partnership with the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited (CSPDCL).
• Self-help group members are offered flexible loans for rooftop solar installations, aligning with the Prime Minister's Lakhpati Didi vision.
• Kabirdham district is the flagship site, where the Vande Mataram Cluster Level Federation was registered as an authorised solar vendor with support from the Zila Panchayat.
• Nearly 35 women from local SHGs underwent hands-on technical training in rooftop solar installation, forming the first cadre of 'Solar Didis'.
• The state's first rooftop solar system under the initiative was installed in Samnapur village in Kabirdham.
• The state government plans to expand the DWEEPTI Yojana framework to the remaining districts to establish a replicable model for clean energy adoption driven by women's leadership.