Bihar's 'Solar Didis' Are Turning Sunlight Into Income, Irrigation and Independence for Rural Women

In the flat, fertile farmland of Muzaffarpur district in northern Bihar, a quiet transformation is underway. Women who once had little role in the economic decisions of their villages are now running solar-powered irrigation businesses, supplying water to neighbouring farmers and earning incomes of their own. Locally, they have come to be known as the "Solar Didis".

Their story, highlighted once again in a HerStory feature published on 22 September 2026, captures how clean energy, rural livelihoods and women's economic empowerment can reinforce one another when technology reaches the people who need it most.

The irrigation problem that sunlight solved

Irrigation has long been one of the costliest and least reliable parts of farming in Muzaffarpur. Most farmers work very small plots, often measured in a few kattha, and depend on groundwater. Diesel pumps are expensive to run, and electricity supply for agricultural pumps has historically been erratic.

Solar pumps changed the equation. Running on sunlight and requiring no fuel, they offer a predictable, low-cost source of power for drawing water. In earlier reporting on the initiative, one of the women entrepreneurs explained that a solar pump could irrigate about four kattha of land in an hour for around ₹100, compared with ₹150 to ₹200 for the same work using diesel.

For smallholder farmers operating on thin margins, that difference is significant. Lower irrigation costs mean more money left over for seeds, fertiliser and household needs, and reliable water supply allows farmers to plan crops with greater confidence.

From housewives to energy entrepreneurs

What makes the Muzaffarpur model distinctive is not only the technology but who controls it. Rather than being installed as individual assets for large landowners, many of the solar pumps are operated by women who sell irrigation services to other farmers.

One of the best-known figures in the movement is Devki Devi of Ratanpura village. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described her story in the 125th episode of his monthly radio address, Mann Ki Baat, saying she had changed the fate of her village with a solar pump and was now affectionately known as Solar Didi. According to earlier accounts of her journey, Devki began by supplying water to five farmers and went on to serve more than 65, irrigating around 35 acres and earning approximately ₹1.5 lakh a year.

Other women have followed similar paths. Sunita Devi of Bhagwanpur has been reported to irrigate around 32 acres of farmland, using her income to support her daughter's education. Previous reporting has also described how more than 90 women across Muzaffarpur have become entrepreneurs by using solar pumps to support over 3,000 farmers.

Institutions that made it possible

The spread of the Solar Didi model owes much to institutional support. Jeevika, the Bihar government's rural livelihoods programme built around women's self-help groups, has played a central role in mobilising women, providing training and connecting them to resources. The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India) has also been closely involved in raising awareness and supporting the adoption of solar irrigation.

These organisations helped address the barriers that often prevent rural women from starting enterprises: lack of collateral, limited access to finance, unfamiliarity with technology and social norms that confine women to domestic roles. By pairing technology with training and group support, they made it possible for women to own and operate income-generating assets.

The transition was not always easy. Women entrepreneurs have described how it took time to convince farmers to trust solar pumps, and how they had to overcome scepticism about both the technology and their own ability to run a business.

Part of a larger solar push in Bihar

The Solar Didi movement is unfolding alongside a much broader state and national effort to expand solar energy. Bihar has set a target of solarising 2.5 million households and aims to extend solar power to around 5.8 million poor families, with Jeevika's women members, known as Jeevika Didis, expected to help households navigate the installation of rooftop panels.

Under the central government's PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, households can receive a subsidy of up to ₹78,000 for domestic rooftop solar systems of 3 kW capacity or more. State officials have also called for expanding women's role in solar-energy initiatives, including the promotion of solar pumps for farmers.

This convergence of policy, finance and grassroots networks could allow the Solar Didi model to scale well beyond Muzaffarpur. Women who already have trusted relationships within their communities are well placed to explain new technologies, collect demand and support after-sales service.

Why the model matters globally

For the global development community, Bihar's experience offers a useful lesson. Many clean-energy programmes focus on installing hardware and measuring megawatts. The Solar Didi model shows that the social architecture around the technology, particularly who owns it and who earns from it, can determine whether an energy transition is also a livelihoods transition.

Solar irrigation reduces diesel consumption and associated emissions, improves farmers' resilience to fuel-price shocks and creates local enterprises. When those enterprises are run by women, the benefits extend to household decision-making, children's education and women's standing in their communities.

There are also risks to manage. Cheap, abundant solar power for pumping can encourage over-extraction of groundwater if not paired with water-management practices. Long-term maintenance of equipment, access to spare parts and fair pricing for irrigation services all require attention if the model is to remain sustainable.

Lessons for policymakers

The Muzaffarpur experience suggests that scaling women-led clean-energy enterprises depends on a few practical enablers: access to affordable finance for equipment, reliable technical support, and group structures that give women confidence and bargaining power. Where these are in place, solar assets can become viable small businesses rather than subsidised installations that fall into disuse.

The road ahead

As India pursues ambitious renewable-energy targets, much of the attention falls on large solar parks and utility-scale projects. The Solar Didis of Bihar are a reminder that decentralised solar, deployed thoughtfully, can deliver benefits that large projects cannot: direct income for rural households, greater agency for women and practical climate adaptation for smallholder farmers.

In Muzaffarpur's fields, the sun has become an economic resource in the hands of women who were once excluded from the village economy. Their success suggests that India's energy transition will be strongest where it is also inclusive, and that some of the most powerful climate solutions are being led not from boardrooms, but from farm edges and self-help group meetings in rural Bihar.