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In India, over 900 million people are extremely vulnerable to climate extremities and lack basic opportunities and safety nets. Conventional economic development solutions often focus on the poor, by treating them as commercially unviable rather than as resourceful agents of their own development. SELCO Foundation addresses this challenge using a systems change lens by inculcating climate smart pathways within the development trajectory.
About the organisation
SELCO Foundation’s mission is to develop holistic solutions that use sustainable energy, energy efficiency, green built environments, circularity etc as a catalyst to address poverty alleviation alongside ensuring environmental sustainability. It is grounded in the belief that climate smart solutions, when co-created with underserved communities, can serve as a powerful catalyst for improving health, education, livelihoods, and dignity.. SELCO Foundation since 2010 operates as an open-source, not-for-profit platform that designs, rigorously tests, and freely shares solutions and programs tailored to the complex realities of marginalized communities. They develop enabling conditions, i.e an ecosystem for user centric, climate smart solutions which is locally owned, adopted, scaled and institutionalized through stakeholders including government agencies, financiers, NGOs and enterprises. Core to the organization are its values on inclusion, compassion, agency, resiliency and sustainability. Through its work, SELCO Foundation aims to create a benchmark for innovation systems in a manner that people and the planet are at the center. Working across households, livelihoods, health centres, and schools, climate smart solutions include aspects of appropriate financing models, local entrepreneurship, and policy advocacy to create lasting systemic change. To date, SELCO's direct interventions have reached 7.5 million people with energy access across 15+ Indian states, with a further 4.6 million reached through energy-efficient institutions and livelihood tools. SELCO received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2018) and the Ramon Magsaysay Award (2011).
Harish Hande
Founder
Ramon Magsaysay Award (2011), Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2018) Ashoka Fellow (2008) Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2007)
Headquarters: India
Geographies: India
Domains: Climate
Journey of Exponential Change
One of SELCO Foundation's core focuses has been strengthening last-mile health delivery by powering healthcare infrastructure with sustainable energy and transitioning to energy-efficient equipment and buildings. To date, they have scaled and implemented solutions across 12,000+ health facilities nationwide. SELCO Foundation and C4EC began their exponential journey in 2023 with a bold question: how might they enable energy-efficient, quality healthcare delivery across 25,000 healthcare centres in 12 states in India by 2026? Several significant shifts have emerged through this journey. Firstly, SELCO is now working with multiple state governments to empower healthcare centres directly, putting them well on track to reach the 25,000 mark by the end of 2025. They are slowly changing community perception of Primary Health Centres by building a new narrative as more centres become powered and equipped, communities are more likely to access them when needed rather than delaying care or travelling long distances at the cost of a daily wage, driving stronger health outcomes overall. SELCO has also focused on scaling and sustaining operations, has established a network of implementation and post-implementation partners across states, and is working with C4EC's collaborator eGov Foundation to digitise and unify the maintenance process for solar and energy efficient infrastructure. Additionally, they are building a Centre for Collective Wisdom powered by Apurva.ai, a knowledge infrastructure that is now being expanded to reimagine problem-solving across agriculture, rural development, entrepreneurship, and community development by surfacing and curating hidden wisdom across ecosystems. Finally they are establishing a Centre for Systems Practice, a first-of-its-kind fellowship that nurtures emerging leaders to think systemically and act adaptively, addressing the felt need for more systemic thinkers capable of creating exponential change.
In 2025, SELCO also began a new journey with C4EC around Climate Responsive Livelihoods, asking: How might they leverage the agency of 25 million vulnerable people in India to catalyse an open, interconnected ecosystem by 2035? Currently, they are prototyping this initiative in Meghalaya through deep co-creation with the state government and ecosystem actors.
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