The Union South-East Asia Office's innovative proposal "Cookstoves for Carbon Credits" was one of the top 75 finalists selected from among 14,000 entries in "The Power of Ideas" competition. The competition organised by the Economic Times and Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at the Indian Institute of Management–Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is India's premier business plan competition. "Cookstoves for Carbon Credits" aims to introduce and promote the usage of CER (Certified Emission Reduction) cookstoves in rural households across India.
Currently 70% of Indian households use solid fuel for cooking, with highly detrimental effects on their health. For example, as many as 90% of all TB patients in India live in households using this type of fuel. Consequently, replacing existing solid fuel-burning stoves with low-cost CER cookstoves would not only reduce indoor air pollution, but also have a positive impact on the health of millions of people. Women and young children would particularly benefit, since they receive the greatest exposure. The new stoves would also help to contain the health costs generated by the respiratory and other diseases caused by indoor air pollution.
The "Cookstoves for Carbon Credits" project proposed a partnership between The Union and a manufacturer of CER cookstoves on a mutual profit-sharing basis. The Union would procure the cleaner, more efficient cookstoves and distribute them to its extensive networks, encouraging their use by donating its share of the profits to the village units. In addition, revenue would be generated by CER credits earned per stove per year, and The Union would also pledge to use its share of these funds to support initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes in the community.
In recognition of the entrepreneurial and transformative potential of The Union's project, Susheel Kumar and Dr Anil Jacob were invited to participate in a 10-day "Power of Ideas" mentoring and training workshop at IIM-Ahmedabad. This was designed as an opportunity for entrepreneurs to accelerate the growth of their early stage start-ups through mentoring, validation and seed funding. Successful entrepreneurs and industry experts shared their knowledge on a number of start-up management topics from identifying customers and branding to dealing with venture capital negotiations. One-on-one mentoring sessions with experienced mentors and IIM-A students helped them prepare the business collaterals and financial models needed for a start-up. The next steps to move the project forward are currently being researched at The Union South-East Asia Office.