Bijli Bachao!

Energy efficiency has been identified worldwide as least cost measure for climate change mitigation. True to every word, this one line surmises the feelings of every Indian today. But the question remains-what are we doing to change this situation at an individual level? Living in a generation, where having a smart phone, a smart drive and a smart paycheck to take care of our dreams and ambitions is all that we care for, Abhishek Jain stands out as a super hero, "The Green Lantern"!

One of the major challenges that energy efficiency in India faces is lack of credible information to the consumers. Bijli Bachao is the outcome of a deep desire to learn and spread the importance of saving electricity to everyone who uses it. Efficient use of electricity is something that needs immediate attention.

The challenge is often with SMEs and small households or units. In spite of a plethora of options, our government has for the consumers; we're surrounded by mysterious peak in electricity bills, CO2 emissions, climate change et al. This is the direct result of lack in awareness amongst the "aam aadmi"!

The ownership and usage patterns of appliances and consumer attitude towards saving are quite different in India when compared with developed countries. With this thought and motive "Bichli Bachao" was created in 2011. An online information guide explicitly designed to 1) cater to the smaller Indian consumers, 2) communicate in a language that is easier for them to understand and 3) provide content to which readers can connect with was expected to be high on demand. This is now much evident in the rate at which the viewership of the website is increasing.

• The large variety of information, product and services offered by Bijli Bachao offers consumers a one stop solution for anything relating with electricity consumption.
• They can find links for their distribution utilities to pay their electricity bills online.
• They can understand various components of their electricity bills such as energy charge, demand charge, arrears, tax, etc.
• They can estimate the appliance wise consumption patterns and decide on which efficiency measure will be economically viable
• Compare between different models of appliances such as refrigerators, ceiling fans to see which one will consume how much for tariffs applicable for their distribution utilities
• They get information on latest schemes programs, etc, offered by government or their distribution company
• They get information about renewable sources of energy, how to use them, how much does it cost and what are the benefits.

They also have something called as electricity bill calculator and various calculators on the website. The purpose of these calculators is to help people understand how much they are paying for electricity on various appliances and also to help them select the right appliance while making a purchase. The process of data collection has been automated to an extent by automatically capturing information from the website of Bureau of Energy Efficiency and some of the appliance manufacturers' websites. Although the manual process involved is to make sure that the data is right and of the brands/models that are available in the market.

Bijli Bachao is fuelled with an avid research and simply being aware of where you're putting your money in. Abhishek learns things from a chore as small as buying a simple bulb. He compares various wattages, energy efficiency etc for all electric the appliances they've bought till date.

One is baffled by the idea of leaving the comfort of a fat paycheck and pursuing dreams after spending 10 long years in an MNC. Abhishek has beautiful supporting wife and this to say. "Well I was at a stage in my life when although I was growing in my career, but I felt that my learning had slowed down significantly. The opportunities that existed in the organization were not exciting, and being an inquisitive person, I aspired for more. Being an ambitious person, I craved for more. Although the money that I was earning was good, and it did make me think before leaving my job, but then at some stage one has to take risks to achieve what is unknown. The idea of doing something of my own always excited me. And I realized that if I do well, money will not be a challenge. The objective was to come out of comfort zone and do things that I am good at and to create something that will be useful for others. If I am able to create something awesome, rest all happen on its own."

Unlike others who are lured into obtaining the colorful citizenship cards out of India, Abhishek dreamed of a better India. He took his one small step in achieving a dream that billions of us dream everyday.