Newsroom Updates of Solar Dryers Helping Farmers in India
Latest News in Solar Technology for Agricultural Products
News18
Solar Dryer: To help farmers in the country become more prosperous, organizations like the Indian Agricultural Research and the government are taking new initiatives every day. In this context, farmers can also earn good income by using solar technology. Often, even after selling a large portion of their crops, farmers are left with excess produce. In such situations, they either throw away the remaining crops or sell them at very low prices, which leads to losses.
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Times of Agriculture
Feature in magazineThe Journey of Raheja Solar's Founders, Varun and Babita Raheja Building a Strong Identity by Using Solar-Based Dehydration Technology to Reduce Waste
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Startup Pedia
This Indori Engineer Built IoT-Enabled Solar Dryers to Tackle ₹1.5L Cr Post-Harvest Losses; Appeared on Shark Tank; Clocked ₹12 Cr in FY25
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Startup G
Indore-based engineer Varun Raheja built IoT-enabled solar dryers to tackle post-harvest losses amounting to Rs 1.5 lakh crore. His startup, Raheja Solar, now empowers 1 lakh+ farmers, and clocked Rs 14 crore in FY25. India loses Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of fruits and vegetables every year due to post-harvest waste, and 20–30% of perfectly edible produce gets rejected just because it doesn’t look perfect.
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NavBharatTimes
New Delhi: Varun Raheja is a resident of Indore. He is the founder of Raheja Solar Food Processing Pvt Ltd. He completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Medicaps University, Indore, in 2018. During his college years, while many students were focusing on placements, Varun began experimenting with composting and solar drying (the process of drying using solar energy). Today, he sells solar dryers to tackle post-harvest losses. This has helped increase farmers’ income. In the financial year 2024–25, he earned ₹14 crore. Varun also participated in Shark Tank India, where he secured a deal worth ₹1.75 crore from the judges. The company has installed more than 8,000 solar dryers across 26 states in India. Internationally, it has expanded to countries like Kenya, Malawi, Indonesia, and Bhutan. Let’s learn more about Varun’s journey to success.फर के बारे में जानते हैं।
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AgroTech Space
In a country where sunlight is abundant and sun drying papads and pickles remains a household ritual, the idea of solar drying is far from new. Yet, in the context of India’s agricultural economy, the stakes around drying have shifted dramatically. According to a Government of India report, farmers lose over INR 1.5 lakh crore worth of produce every year due to post harvest losses. At a time when the country is working towards becoming ‘Atmanirbhar’ and positioning itself as the world’s third largest economy, such losses represent a structural economic gap.
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BusinessRemedies
The Journey of Raheja Solar's Founders, Varun and Babita Raheja Building a Strong Identity by Using Solar-Based Dehydration Technology to Reduce Waste
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Media PR & Story - 2025-26
Indore TalkEvery year, over 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted. RSFP is on a mission to change that. Based in Madhya Pradesh, Raheja Solar Food Processing (RSFP) is empowering farmers, saving crops, and protecting the environment — all through solar-powered food preservation. Let’s reduce post-harvest loss and build a more sustainable future for our farmers and our planet.
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The Plate India
Raheja Solar Food Processing is addressing the urgent issue of post-harvest losses in India, where 30–40% of fruits and vegetables go to waste. This not only impacts farmer incomes but also threatens food security. While India is a leading agricultural producer, less than 10% of its output is processed—well behind global standards.
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The Better India
When markets can’t absorb surplus harvests, farmers lose more than just income – they lose months of sowing, body aches, and skipped meals. For smallholder farmers, this is an everyday reality.
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Gen E Media
Every year, India wastes millions of tonnes of perfectly good fruits because they’re too odd-looking for supermarket shelves. But what if that fruit could be rescued and turned into something delicious? That’s exactly what Barefruit is doing.They’re working with local farmers and help them dry their excess produce naturally using solar dryers. This is turned into nutritious, preservative-free fruit bars. These bars have no added sugar and no artificial stuff. Just real fruit locked in a bar that can last for months. It means more income for farmers. Less fruit wasted. And a genuinely healthy snack for the rest of us. Barefruit is a product of Raheja solar - which also provides solar dryers to these farmers so that fruits can be processed at farm level to retain their freshness and nutritional value. The farmers can also share these dryers to optimise the benefits. Would you eat fruit in a bar?
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Rainmatter by Zerodha
Discover the inspiring journeys of two visionary startups Golden Feathers and Raheja Solar Food Processing, revolutionizing lives through innovation, driving change, and making a lasting social impact, on Leap to Unicorn Season 2 - Catalyst for IMPACT, presented by IDFC FIRST Bank, in association with Moneycontrol and CNBC-TV18.
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Villgro
Discover the inspiring journeys of two visionary startups Golden Feathers and Raheja Solar Food Processing, revolutionizing lives through innovation, driving change, and making a lasting social impact, on Leap to Unicorn Season 2 - Catalyst for IMPACT, presented by IDFC FIRST Bank, in association with Moneycontrol and CNBC-TV18.
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The Bharat Project by yourstory
From Sunlight to Sustenance – Meet the Startup Turning Food Waste into Farmer Wealth. With over 60,000+ farmers empowered, Raheja Solar Food Processing is solving India’s ₹90,000 crore post-harvest crisis — one solar dryer at a time.
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Indore Talk
Every year, over 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted. RSFP is on a mission to change that. Based in Madhya Pradesh, Raheja Solar Food Processing (RSFP) is empowering farmers, saving crops, and protecting the environment — all through solar-powered food preservation. Let’s reduce post-harvest loss and build a more sustainable future for our farmers and our planet.
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Magazine
Agriculture TodayOur journey in revolutionising food processing with solar innovation continues to gain recognition, and this feature is a testament to our commitment to sustainability and innovation in the industry.
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Moneycontrol
Discover the inspiring journeys of two visionary startups Golden Feathers and Raheja Solar Food Processing, revolutionizing lives through innovation, driving change, and making a lasting social impact, on Leap to Unicorn Season 2 - Catalyst for IMPACT, presented by IDFC FIRST Bank, in association with Moneycontrol and CNBC-TV18.
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Videos Mentions
Shark Tank IndiaThis wild swinging of market prices leaves farmers struggling to find adequate compensation for their work. Scenes of farmers dumping fresh produce on roads amid a price crash are commonplace across the country. Despite being a global agricultural powerhouse, every year around 30% - 40 % of total production in India ends up as waste at various levels of the supply chain.
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CEEW Powering Sustainable Livelihoods
Enter solar dryers and the women in the FPO started selling dried products. Malleswaramma says their incomes increased manifold with dried products. The solar dryer manufacturer — Raheja Solar — also buys back the dried products. This reduced on-farm waste and ensured that the women have a steady flow of income.
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Videos Mentions
Shark Tank IndiaThis wild swinging of market prices leaves farmers struggling to find adequate compensation for their work. Scenes of farmers dumping fresh produce on roads amid a price crash are commonplace across the country. Despite being a global agricultural powerhouse, every year around 30% - 40 % of total production in India ends up as waste at various levels of the supply chain.
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Navabharat Times
Say goodbye to artificial snacks and hello to sunshine goodness! With Barefruit Solar Dried Snacks, you’re always 100% sure of the purity of your fruit. Healthy, tasty, and naturally preserved it’s truly the fruit of the future!
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Aaj Tak
The Better IndiaWhen there is enough supply in the market, prices reduce. Earlier, we were selling tomatoes for Rs 50 per crate of 20 kilos, which comes to Rs 2.5 for 1 kg. We were unable to even get its cost of production. Additionally, we have to spend on harvesting the crop and transporting it to the market,”
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Forbes 30 under 30: Varun Raheja
Yourstory IndiaThis wild swinging of market prices leaves farmers struggling to find adequate compensation for their work. Scenes of farmers dumping fresh produce on roads amid a price crash are commonplace across the country. Despite being a global agricultural powerhouse, every year around 30% - 40 % of total production in India ends up as waste at various levels of the supply chain.
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Times of India
Shark Tank IndiaDurable solar dryers’ pitcher Varun shares ‘farmer’s suicides’ inspired him to build his business and end food wastage
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Why Were Farmers Throwing Out Tomatoes?
Indore-based Varun Raheja designed foldable, portable, and scalable solar dryers to help small and marginal farmers derive better income from excess produce, which would otherwise be sold at throwaway prices.
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How These Low-Cost Solar Dryers Are Solving India's Food Wastage
India is one of the largest food producers in the world. But the sad reality is that a considerable portion of this gets wasted, often without even leaving the farms.
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Meet the 25-year-old entrepreneur helping farmers reduce waste using solar dryers
Founded in 2019, Raheja Solar Food Processing Pvt Ltd manufacturers affordable, locally-made solar dryers that help farmers create value-added products.
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Solar dryers reduce farmers’ food loss in India
Varun Raheja, a mechanical engineer from India, was always fascinated by farming. As he loves nature, he considered farming and working closely with flora and fauna to be the best occupation and work in the world.
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Varun Raheja Solar Food Processing
Raheja Solar Food Processing is a social enterprise, based in Indore, working for the welfare of farmers. We have developed the most affordable solar dries in folding design.
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In an interview with The Borgen Project, Raheja describes a solar dryer as a “food dehydrator system”
In an interview with The Borgen Project, Raheja describes a solar dryer as a “food dehydrator system” that uses solar energy to remove the produce’s moisture.
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How These Low-Cost Solar Dryers Are Solving India's
How These Low-Cost Solar Dryers Are Solving India's Food Wastage Crisis And Improving Income Of Farmers
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The cycle of agriculture
The cycle of agriculture is tedious and requires a lot of hard work. What if the resultant yield does not make the required profit?
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Solar dryers reduce farmers’ food loss in India
Varun Raheja, a mechanical engineer from India, was always fascinated by farming. As he loves nature, he considered farming, and working closely with flora and fauna, to be the best occupation and work in the world.
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Mechanical Engineer Invents Solor Dryer For Crop Storage
Proved Varun Raheja, a Mechanical engineer from indore.he was disturbed by news of farmers committing suicides and abandoning their crops when they did not even get the price they had picked.
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