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Ujjwala at 10 — Time to Write the Next Chapter: Sun in Every Kitchen
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Respected Shri Dharmendra Pradhanji,
Namaskar.
Your article in today's Economic Times on PM Modi's Ujjwala Yojana completing 10
glorious years moved me deeply:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/pm-modis-ujjwala-at-10-marks-shift-from-access-to-empowerment-says-education-minister-dharmendra-pradhan/articleshow/130649113.cms
You described it as a shift "from access to empowerment." As someone who
watched Ujjwala transform 10.33 crore kitchens — lifting women out of the smoke
and darkness of chulha cooking — I salute your vision and your stewardship of
that revolution.
But respected Pradhanji, you were not only the architect of Ujjwala. You were also
the Petroleum Minister who first understood that the Indian kitchen is the beating
heart of India's energy challenge. That understanding made Ujjwala possible.
And that same understanding, I believe, will lead you to see what I am about to say.
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UJJWALA GAVE THEM THE BLUE FLAME.
NOW GIVE THEM THE SUN.
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Ujjwala's success rests on one genius insight: that the rural poor woman does not
need a lecture on energy policy — she needs a clean flame in her kitchen,
delivered free, without paperwork.
Ten years later, that same woman faces a new crisis. The blue flame she depends
upon travels through the Strait of Hormuz — a geopolitical chokepoint now
inflamed by the US-Iran crisis. India imports nearly 60% of its LPG. Our storage
buffer is barely days of consumption. Two India-bound tankers recently needed
diplomatic intervention just to cross safely.
The solution is staring at us from the rooftop — and from the sky above every
Indian home.
I had written in detail about this to Shri Piyush Goyalji. I humbly request you to
read that letter in full:
https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2026/04/bring-sun-into-your-home.html
The proposal, briefly:
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THE UJJWALA 3.0 MOMENT
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Just as Ujjwala replaced the chulha with the cylinder — FREE, delivered, no
paperwork —
it is now time to replace the cylinder with the SUN — FREE, delivered, no import.
The instrument: A FREE induction cooktop + battery/inverter pack bundled with
PM Surya Ghar rooftop solar.
TWO TRACKS:
TRACK A —
40+ lakh households already have PM Surya Ghar panels installed.
Their rooftops generate electricity. But they are still cooking on LPG — simply
because nobody gave them an induction cooktop.
Give them one FREE. Impact: IMMEDIATE. Forex saving: INSTANT.
TRACK B —
For the crores not yet on solar, make the FREE induction kit the
irresistible pull:
"Install PM Surya Ghar today — get a FREE induction cooktop
at your door within 30 days."
This turns subsidy into mission. Passive scheme into viral movement.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WHY THIS IS THE UJJWALA PARALLEL YOU WILL RECOGNISE
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Ujjwala (2016): | Solar Induction Bundle (2026):
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Replaced chulha with cylinder | Replaces cylinder with sunshine
FREE connection, delivered home | FREE cooktop, delivered home
Targeted BPL women | Targets existing solar + new adopters
Freed women from smoke | Frees India from import dependence
Govt bore full upfront cost | Govt bears cost, recoups in 10 months
Impact: 10.33 crore lives | Potential impact: 33 crore households
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The spirit is identical. The scale is larger. The urgency is greater.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
THE PAYBACK IS SHOCKINGLY SHORT
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FREE kit cost per household: ₹ 8,000 – 10,000
LPG import saving per year: ₹ 7,000 – 8,700
Subsidy + logistics saving per year: ₹ 4,000 – 5,000
Total annual saving per household: ₹ 11,000 – 13,700
┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄
PAYBACK : UNDER 10 MONTHS
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At national scale (3.3 crore households) :
Investment: ₹ 29,700 Crore
Annual forex saved: $ 2.7 BILLION (₹23,000 Crore)
Full system annual saving: ₹ 37,000 Crore
┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄
NATIONAL PAYBACK: Under 10 months.
SURPLUS from Year 2: ₹ 7,000+ Crore EVERY year, permanently.
No programme in India's history has returned the government's investment this
fast.
Ujjwala itself, great as it was, could not claim this.
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A SPECIAL REQUEST TO YOU, PERSONALLY
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Respected Pradhanji,
you launched Ujjwala. You know, better than anyone, what it takes to change the
energy reality of the Indian kitchen.
You wrote today that Ujjwala marks a shift from access to empowerment. I would
add: the next shift is from empowerment to independence — energy
independence, from the sun above every Indian rooftop.
As Education Minister, you also shape the aspirations of the next generation.
Imagine 140 crore young Indians growing up in homes that cook with sunshine —
not with imported gas from a war zone halfway around the world. That is the
India worth teaching toward.
I am 92 years old.
I have been writing on this since 2017 — nine years of letters to ministers, nine
years of proposals filed, nine years of waiting. Today, as Ujjwala turns 10, I feel
the moment has finally come.
Will you please speak to Shri Piyush Goyalji and Shri Manohar Lal Khattar ji — and
together, make this happen on a war footing?
☀️ "BRING THE SUN INTO YOUR HOME — AND LET IT COOK FOR YOU!"
Ujjwala gave India the blue flame.
Let the next decade give India the golden one.
With deepest respect and lifelong admiration for your work,
Hemen Parekh
hcpblogs@gmail.com | Mumbai
Full proposal to Shri Piyush Goyalji (with visuals):
https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2026/04/bring-sun-into-your-home.html
White Paper – Project Solar Cooker:
https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2026/03/white-paper-project-solar-cooker.html
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