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Context

Despite widespread electrification, energy poverty continues to constrain women’s livelihoods in rural India. The challenge today is not access alone, but the reliability, affordability, and suitability of energy for productive use. Women often remain concentrated in low-income, low-productivity livelihoods, where clean energy is rarely recognised as a livelihood multiplier.

For millions of women-led enterprises, unreliable power directly limits income, productivity, and growth. Persistent reliance on diesel and fossil fuels raises cost and vulnerability, and power unreliability often disrupts enterprise stability.

Scope of Our Intervention 

Decentralised Energy for Women’s Economic Empowerment (DEWEE) is an initiative that addresses these interconnected challenges by embedding clean, reliable energy at the heart of women-led livelihoods. This climate-resilient livelihoods programme leverages decentralised renewable energy (DRE) as a strategic catalyst for women’s economic growth.

By combining DRE adoption with enterprise strengthening, skill-development, and local service ecosystems, DEWEE enables women not only to adopt clean energy for productive use, but also to participate meaningfully in the clean energy economy as entrepreneurs, technicians, and service providers.

DEWEE addresses the three critical barriers that often prevent women-led enterprises from adopting clean energy: awareness, access, and financing. The initiative also helps entrepreneurs leverage multiple government schemes and market linkages to make the transition viable and scalable.

Its mission to enable 500,000 women-led enterprises across India to enhance income, productivity, and resilience through DRE. Currently being implemented in Uttar Pradesh, DEWEE is in the process of expanding across high potential states including Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka.

Program Lead & Collaborators

DEWEE is implemented through strategic partnerships across philanthropy, government, finance, and clean energy markets—ensuring scale, credibility, and sustainability. In Uttar Pradesh, DEWEE leverages the extensive community architecture of Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (UPSRLM). PCI India provides technical assistance, field execution, and SHG capacity building. It’s partners include Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), The Gates Foundation, GIZ India, Prerna OJAS.

Outcome

Launched in February 2025, DEWEE has achieved:

  • 5,000 women entrepreneurs reached across Uttar Pradesh
  • 4,172 enterprises solarised
  • 4+ MW of solar capacity installed (already exceeding the original 20 MW target for the entire project period)
  • ~30% average income increase per enterprise
  • 313 Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) mapped for ongoing awareness and mobilisation
Read More : DEWEE Project Brief
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