Solar energy for social impact: How Orora Global’s Savitha Sridharan is leading the way

We interviewed Savitha to understand how she and her team used solar power to empower women in South India. The process? 1. Understand the problem 2. Develop a solution 3. Measure performance as people, planet, and profits

Socially responsible investing is building traction with individual and institutional investors. But, having a mandate doesn’t mean much if it is not executed well. It can be hard to identify companies that provide positive social impact AND a positive financial return. In many cases, one tends to weigh out one or the other. Orora Global is the exception.  CEO of Orora Global, Savitha Sridharan, gives us the inside scoop on how she and her team have been able to craft the recipe that is just right. In an SPI Exclusive interview, Savitha tells the story of Orora and breaks down the necessary ingredients of an effective social enterprise. Investors looking for an SRI portfolio company can look no further and entrepreneurs looking to build a social enterprise now have access to the right cookbook. 

For Savitha’s story, please see below.

Tell us about Orora and how it all got started. 

In rural markets across the globe, communities impacted by climate change are increasingly flipping their switch to solar power, the adaption being made more feasible by self-sustainable business models with creative financing solutions. Our story started during the Orora team’s travels around South India, when we identified one such district in the Tamil Nadu, South India — Tiruchirappalli (commonly referred to as Trichy). Agriculture continues to be the most predominant sector of this district economy. However, due to the extreme climate changes in the last few years, the river Kauveri has been drying up leaving the soil eroded and the local families that once relied on farming struggling to make their ends meet. As many men migrate to the nearby cities to find jobs, the domestic responsibilities including education of their children completely fall on the shoulders of the women. Most women who are caregivers in families are struggling with health issues that arise from burning fossils. The women also have no voice in the decision-making in their family or in the community as they are economically dependent. Overall the villages were evolving as unequal, unsustainable communities.  Thanks to the innovative collaboration between Orora Global, Inc. and the women impacted by climate change in rural Trichy in South India, Orora has been successful in setting up Orora PowerHubs for solar technician training, solar productions, garment manufacturing and more that has helped provide employment opportunities for women and youth in clean energy, reducing the cost of solar installation, making renewable energy accessible and affordable for rural communities, which will also soon benefit from significant energy cost savings over time. Orora Global, Inc. is a social enterprise focussed on building sustainable communities using affordable renewable energy as a vehicle fueling social change. Orora’s programs are co-designed with the remote communities to bring more opportunities to local women and youth.

Why was solar a good fit for Orora’s business model? 

Caught in a vicious cycle of under-development, a powerful tool for the rural and remote populations to break out of cyclical poverty is access to reliable and sustainable sources of energy. Low incomes and low levels of development make unattractive markets for investment in electricity services. On the other hand, renewable power is booming, as innovation brings down costs and starts to deliver a sustainable source of clean energy without compromising on reliability. Clean technology provides a necessary platform to develop innovative solutions for manufacturing, education, healthcare, communication, transportation, food storage, water, and more, impacting the triple bottom line sustainability of the communities. Orora’s innovation, Orora PowerHub, is a ‘plug and play’ modular, solar-powered solution with configurable options for off-grid storage that can be installed into any remote community centers to adequately address the problem of unreliable electricity access. The Orora PowerHub can be customized for various applications like garment manufacturing, a computer center, cold storage unit, a  hospital, or any such energy need in the rural communities. Orora’s first focus has been to set up Orora PowerHub for Garment Manufacturing to provide plenty of employment opportunities as garment workers for hundreds of women living in rural India and accelerate the economic empowerment of the communities, particularly post-COVID 19. Garment manufacturers currently use old-fashioned tailoring machines which are very laborious for women to use since they work 12 hrs every day, working 6-7 days a week. In a few garment manufacturing centers which use power machines, the women are unable to be productive because of their dependence on unreliable electricity and expensive diesel alternatives. Installing PowerHubs can help in achieving up to a ten-fold increase in productivity of the garment workers, increase in the profits generated by the garment manufacturing centers and drastically reduce the greenhouse gas emissions for the garment manufacturing center. For example, an Orora PowerHub powered by 3 KWatt solar panels can support up to 10 power sewing machines, providing employment to 20 garment workers per PowerHub and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions by 24.74 tons of CO2 over 5 years.

As CEO and Founder of Orora, how do you measure and track performance?

Orora’s key performance indicators (KPIs) to build sustainable communities can be assessed in terms of 15 out of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). We measure and track performance of our programs in terms of :

1. Social Impact
   • Number of jobs provided to garment workers, particularly women
   • Organization Footprint across different geographies: Number of PowerHubs installed across communities in various countries 
2. Environmental Impact
   • Reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions saved, measured in tons of CO2 compared to that of electricity or gas emissions 
3. Financial Impact
   • Increase in revenue and productivity of the garment manufacturing PowerHub
   • Energy savings achieved after installation of PowerHub 
   • Return on Investment and Profitability of each PowerHub over 5 years 

What is your advice to those who want to participate in impact investing, but are unsure if it will yield a positive ROI?

One of Orora’s primary missions is to achieve Triple Bottom Line Sustainability (impacting 3Ps – People, Planet, Profit) in the communities we work in – fulfilling social, environmental (or ecological) and financial responsibility. The concept of TBL demands that Orora’s responsibility lies with stakeholders of the PowerHubs rather than its shareholders alone. In Orora’s case, “stakeholders” refers to anyone who is influenced, either directly or indirectly, by the actions of the PowerHubs. Examples of stakeholders include employees, customers, suppliers, grassroots partners, local residents, government agencies, and impact investors. PowerHubs should be used as a vehicle for coordinating stakeholder interests, instead of just maximizing shareholder (owner) profit.   A profit-sharing business model between all the stakeholders of the PowerHub motivates all the stakeholders to focus on one goal – generating long-term impact and profits the PowerHub needs to sustain itself. When stakeholders are rewarded based on their contributions to the PowerHub’s success, stakeholders feel like owners. As owners, stakeholders have more incentive to increase the PowerHub’s profitability, yielding positive ROI.

Biography and Capital Raise Opportunity

Orora Global is currently seeking an investment of $1.25M to develop 33 more power hubs and 4 more renewable energy training hubs. In the past round, Orora Global had raised $300K from TT Krishna Kumar, Indian Institute of Technology Madras Alumni Association (IITMAA),  Samsonite Luggage, AIC Sangam Innovation Foundation, The World Bank Group and provided clean energy solutions for 250 homes and jobs for 250 individuals.  Savitha is passionate about bringing more opportunities to women and youth in the clean energy industry, creating gender equity. She holds an MBA from F.W.Olin School of Business (Babson College), Master of Science from North Carolina State University, and Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. She brings with her a decade of experience in technological innovation and hands-on experience in social work in India. During her free time, she trained for ultramarathons to fundraise for developmental work in rural India. You can reach her through email at savitha@ororaglobal.com and follow her work on the website at www.ororaglobal.com.