The ‘Flame of Change’ initiative cuts significant greenhouse gas emissions across 175 villages, improving lives for over 70,000 people in Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
Bajaj Electricals Foundation, the CSR arm of Bajaj Electricals Limited, has won the Mahatma Award for Affordable and Clean Energy 2026 for its ‘Flame of Change’ Improved Cookstove Project, which gives rural households a fuel-efficient alternative to traditional biomass cooking, reducing dependence on firewood while improving cooking environments and household well-being.
This award was received by Ms. Pooja Anant Bajaj, Chairperson- Bajaj Electricals Foundation and the CSR team, in the presence of Dr. Kiran Bedi, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry and First Woman IPS Officer; Santrupt Misra, Member of Parliament and Rajya Sabha; and Amit Sachdeva, Founder- Mahatma Award and Chairperson- Mahatma Foundation.
The Foundation is humbled to receive the Mahatma Award, founded and instituted by philanthropist Mr. Amit Sachdeva, known as ‘The CSR Man of India’. The recognition carries added significance in 2026, the 100th year of the Bajaj Group, a century of nation-building, social responsibility and values-based leadership rooted in the Gandhian ideals of the Group’s founder, Shri Jamnalalji Bajaj.
Ms. Pooja Anant Bajaj, Chairperson, Bajaj Electricals Foundation, said, “The values that guide this work were bequeathed to us by our founder, Shri Jamnalalji Bajaj, and carried across generations: that meaningful development must uplift both people and the planet. Flame of Change initiative is an extension of that legacy. When a woman in Karauli saves seven hours a day and breathes cleaner air in her own kitchen, those values are at work.”
Under Flame of Change, the Foundation has distributed 14,000 improved cookstoves across Karauli and Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan, and Jawhar and Vikramgad in Maharashtra, reaching over 70,000+ people across more than 175 villages, and creating 47 women entrepreneurs and 48 rural jobs.
The project’s impact has been independently verified. An ISO 14064-compliant carbon and social impact assessment of the 8,000 cookstoves in Rajasthan recorded a 73% reduction in household firewood use and approximately seven hours a day saved on cooking and fuel collection, with a projected carbon mitigation of about 222,711 tCO₂e over the project’s five-year life. A similar assessment for the remaining 6,000 cookstoves in Maharashtra is currently underway.