From Solar Cookers To Biofuels: How Engineers India Is Rethinking India’s Energy Future
Vartika Shukla, Chairman and Managing Director at EIL, said that the company worked on the challenge of reducing the weight of a solar cooker, which could be used in households to reduce their energy costs.
The Gist
The year 2025 saw India making significant strides in energy procurement, focusing on solar technology and sustainable practices.
- Engineers India Limited (EIL) introduced a lightweight solar cooker aimed at reducing household energy costs.
- The initiative, led by Chairman Vartika Shukla, is expected to enhance the efficiency of solar energy use in cooking.
- EIL also inaugurated a Bamboo Refinery project, marking a shift towards green fuels and bioethanol production.
The year 2025 was an eventful one, with geopolitics playing a huge role in how India procures energy. While there was much chatter about diversifying oil imports outside of Russia, India is also trying to secure an energy future which is less dependent on traditional energy resources.
For Engineers India Limited (EIL), a significant step in that direction came from the demand side — a solar cooker.
Vartika Shukla, Chairman and Managing Director at EIL, said that the company worked on the challenge of reducing the weight of a solar cooker, which could be used in households to reduce their energy costs.
The project aims to address energy requirements for households "challenged in terms of their capacity to purchase" traditional oil and gas for electricity. Shukla described the initiative as a "game changer for steering the solar mission" by utilising solar heat as a primary cooking medium.
“And it can have a better efficiency as well. So this is one challenge which would probably be a game changer for steering the solar mission as well and using the solar heat for cooking medium,” Shukla told The Core as part of India Energy Week.
The cooker was being developed in collaboration with Indian Oil. “We put an independent mind, and it's always good to have a second round or a third round of in-depth analysis of the elements that can go into improvement of efficiency, reduction of cost, reduction of weight.”
Bamboo To Ethanol
Another milestone for EIL was working on unique Bamboo Refinery in Numaligarh, a second-generation (2G) ethanol project. The plant handles complex non-Newtonian fluids and produces byproducts like acetic acid and furfural, marking a shift from conventional fossil fuels to green fuels.
“We put together that plant with the most exotic material, metallurgy, with new vendors, both national and international, with the equipment which no one has ever operated before,” Shukla said.
The project, aimed at producing 49,000 TPA of bio ethanol, 11,000 TPA of acetic acid, and 19,000 TPA of durfural from raw bamboo feedstocks, was inaugurated by the prime minister in September.
"EIL has always been there as and when the industry has developed," Shukla said, emphasising that the company is positioning itself to lead from the front as the world transitions toward a decarbonised ecosystem
While there were challenges during the setting up for the refinery, there were also lessons.
“It’s been a great learning. And the success of the commissioning and operation of that plant is actually is a testimony of the fact that it was extremely exciting, challenging, yet very satisfying at the end when it all came together,” Shukla said.
