Chhattisgarh Launches Women-Led 'Solar-Didi' Mission

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Monday, 25 May 2026

The Government of Chhattisgarh has approved the 'Dweepti Yojana' for 2026, 2031, a women-led clean energy initiative aimed at transforming rural women into operators, technicians and managers of solar-powered infrastructure across villages. Under the scheme, women will be trained to manage solar-powered systems such as irrigation pumps, flour mills and cold storages as part of the state's rural green energy mission.

In many villages of Chhattisgarh, the women have for a long time been carrying firewood on their heads, cooking in smoke-filled kitchens and also experiencing power cuts during which irrigation pumps, mills and people's means of living were brought to a stop.

Today, the state wants those same women to operate solar-powered cold storage, repair energy systems, manage village-level power assets and become the face of a rural green revolution.

Key Highlights:

• Chhattisgarh has introduced the ‘Dweepti Yojana’, which aims to establish ‘Solar Didis’ who are female-operated.
• Females will run and oversee solar-based village facilities.
• Groups operated by women will be provided with energy contracts for sustainable development.

This plan, which will be carried out through the department of panchayat and rural development and the extensive network of bihan self-help groups, aims to combine renewable energy with the creation of livelihoods in rural areas through activities where the scope of women work is usually very limited.

The main focus of the plan is a new rural image the government is keen to develop, the 'Solar Didi'. The Chief Minister, Vishnu Deo Sai, explained the plan as an attempt to transform rural women from being "consumers" only to "owners and managers" in the energy sector.

“Our goal is to make every village energy self-reliant, led by ‘solar didis’ themselves,” CM Sai said, also stating that the project is in line with the government's green energy and net-zero agenda.

Through this scheme, women from villages who are selected will be trained in skills such as installing, operating, and maintenance of solar-powered systems, for example, irrigation pumps, flour mills, cold storages, and community energy assets.

Authorities are of the view that this may address an age-old problem in villages technical breakdowns when even a small fault can cause public infrastructure to lie unused for weeks because of the absence of engineers or repair personnel.

“This changes the role of women from beneficiaries to managers of infrastructure,” said a senior official who’s associated with the programme.

The government aims to raise self-help groups as energy entrepreneurs.

Currently, cluster level federations (CLFs) operate as women-led community organisations. They will be converted into "women energy cooperative societies" that will be in charge of governance and maintenance of energy resources at the village level.

To keep such arrangement financially viable in rural areas, the scheme offers "pay-per-use" and "pay-as-you-go" systems, whereby the villagers will pay only for the energy they consume and no large upfront investments will be made.

The government plans to set aside 25 percent of the panchayat maintenance contracts for these women-led energy groups, an act that will most likely ensure a consistent local source of income.