Harish HANDE Chief Executive Officer, SELCO Foundation, Bangalore
CV
| Harish Hande is an entrepreneur with over 24 years of experience in deploying sustainable energy solutions for underserved communities. His understanding of the deep correlation between lack of energy and a poor quality of life inspired him to launch a social enterprise - SELCO India - in 1994. SELCO provides appropriate renewable energy services to poor and underserved households in rural India, with affordable financial linkages from local financial institutions. More than 450,000 systems have been installed. SELCO operates at every level of the system and at every point in the supply chain, to build an ecosystem that increases accessibility, affordability, and appropriate renewable energy solutions for the poor. Harish has received national and international recognition for his/SELCO’s pragmatic efforts to empower the poor via energy access. Most notably the Ramon Magsaysay Award (2011), Zayed Future Energy Prize (2018) and Skoll Social Entrepreneurship Award (2018). Born in rural Karnataka, Harish graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and earned his PhD from the University of Massachusetts. |
