Ola joins hands with WWF-India to support Sahasra Jyoti, a renewable energy project in the Sundarbans

The Sahasra Jyoti initiative, launched in 2015 aims to provide solar-powered energy to 1000 households in the Sundarbans

• Ola to support ‘Sahasra Jyoti’ initiative under its ongoing World Environment Day campaign #FarakPadtaHai
• All proceeds from Share Pass sale happening through WWF-India’s online channels to be donated to ‘Sahasra Jyoti’ initiative

08 June, 2017, New Delhi: As a part of its continued efforts towards sustainable development, Ola, India’s most popular mobile app for transportation will be supporting the “Sahasra Jyoti” or “Beacon for the Sundarbans” initiative, an ongoing project of WWF-India, aimed at bringing sustainable development to the Sundarbans landscape in India, by enabling energy access to 1000 households in the region – all through solar energy.

Launched as a part of its World Environment Day initiative – #FadakPadtaHai, Ola is committed to donating a vast majority of revenue from its Share Pass proceeds to WWF-India. #FarakPadtaHai campaign aims to educate people to take their first step towards shared mobility, in an endeavour to curb traffic congestion and vehicular pollution in the key cities of the country. Notably, Ola has already pre-sold 20 million+ share rides through a series of activities planned around WED 2017. Additionally, Share Passes are also being sold at just Re 1/- through WWF-India’s online channels.

Speaking about the association, Mr. Himanshu Pandey, Director, Marketing Communication, WWF-India said, “More than 300 million people living in rural India do not have access to electricity or gas. For those living on the edge of a forest, with no lights in and around their homes, the chances of encountering wildlife increase significantly, resulting in harm caused to both humans or wildlife or both in most situations. “SahastraJyoti” is an endeavour to help people living in these far-flung areas to have access to clean, reliable and affordable energy. We are happy to partner with Ola, India’s largest smart mobility platform and look forward to a continued partnership to build awareness about the environment and sustainable mobility.”

Anand Subramanian, Senior Director – Marketing Communications at Ola, said, “Sustainability is key to Ola’s commitment of building mobility for a billion Indians. As India’s foremost ridesharing platform, we are focused on conserving the environment and resources, by helping reduce the number of under-utilized vehicles on road, as well as through innovative offerings like Ola Share and Electric Vehicles on our platform. This collaboration with WWF not only aims to create awareness about conserving the environment, but also, towards enabling sustainable solar-powered energy supply to the needy households of the Sundarbans. We are honoured to be associated with WWF-India, one of the world’s leading organizations for conservation for such a noble cause.”

The Sahasra Jyoti project, launched by WWF-India, in partnership with a global specialist in energy management and one of the world’s largest financial institutions is aimed at setting up individual micro solar power stations for 15-20 hamlets covering 1000 households in the Satjelia Island. Satjelia is a forest fringe island, sharing 22km of its boundary with the Sundarban Tiger Reserve and has an approximate population of 40,000 people. Ola, through its partnership with WWF-India, will support this ongoing initiative. WWF-India has implemented several such projects in different parts of India which successfully provide grid quality electricity to these remote locations.

About WWF-India:

WWF-India is one of India’s leading conservation organizations with programmes and projects spread across the country. The organization works towards the conservation of biodiversity, natural habitats and the reduction of humanity’s ecological footprint. The mission of WWF-India is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

WWF-India has been working in the Sundarbans since 1973. The Sundarbans Programme came into being in 2005 and addresses three major areas –the conservation of species, the adverse effects of climate change, and sustainable livelihoods for local communities.  Past successes in bringing energy access through renewable energy solutions to the Sundarbans include the setting up of a micro solar power plant, a solar charging station, solar street lights and home lighting systems by WWF-India, along with it partners.

About Ola:

Founded in Jan 2011 by IIT Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and AnkitBhati, Ola (formerly Olacabs), is India’s most popular mobile app for personal transportation. Ola integrates city transportation for customers and driver partners onto a mobile technology platform ensuring convenient, transparent and quick service fulfilment. Ola is committed to its mission of building mobility for a billion people. Using the Ola mobile app, users across 110 cities can book from over 6,00,000 vehicles across cabs, auto-rickshaws and taxis. Ola has also introduced a range of shared mobility services on its platform like Ola Shuttle and Ola Share for commute and ride-sharing respectively. The app is available on Windows, Android and iOS platforms. Please visithttps://www.olacabs.com/media for more information.

For media queries:

WWF-India

Rituparna Sengupta

Sr. Manager- Campaigns, Brand and Media

Email: rsengupta@wwfindia.net

Ph: 011-41504797

Ola

Varnika Gupta l media@olacabs.com l 9999004643