Bangalore: There are many entrepreneurs in India who are successful in their ventures and are leading a well-adjusted life. And then there are a handful of entrepreneurs, who are passionate about providing valuable service to less fortunate people belonging to rural parts of the country, they come out of their comfort zones and start out their independent ventures. We present to you two such entrepreneurs.

From rags to riches, that is how the stories of these entrepreneurs flow. They chose a far less trodden path into the interior parts of rural Bengal, with a vision to provide better facilities and services to the people living in villages at affordable rates. 

Meet Vinay Jaju- alumni of St Xaviers College, Kolkata with professional expertise in areas of Management and Finance, selling solar energy enabled devices and gadgets in Rural Bengal. With his qualifications, Jaju could have easily lead a comfortable life by joining a well-paid desk job in the city. But he chose to be different. "I had a dream to do something for the people. But I had to make it a financially viable venture. So I chose the middle path social enterprise," he said.

He started his firm, ONergy with a capital of Rs 20 lakh with a vision to sell solar energy-enabled devices and gadgets to different areas of rural Bengal that do not have access to electricity. In the first six months, Jaju could barely sell 200 solar powered devices to villagers. Five years down the lane, Jaju’s company has a turnover of Rs 2.5 crore and has six different centers across Bengal.

ONergy also provides expertise to solar power stations. "It has not been an easy journey for us. Solar powered devices are expensive and we had to ensure that villagers got bank loans to buy these products," said Jaju. His successful endeavor gained him limelight and was invited to deliver lectures in Cornell University at IIT Kharagpur and XLRI Jamshedpur.

"People like Jaju have been inspirations for the emerging Bengal. They instill confidence that one can start from scratch and reach newer heights," said Chandradeep Mitra, consultant and visiting faculty at IIMs. "Entrepreneurs in Bengal will have to come out of the mindset that a good company can only be set up at state capitals," Mitra said.

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