Productivity co-benefits of Energy Saving Technology

India is host to 63 million Micro, Small and Medium scale Enterprises (MSMEs), contributing to a large share of employment, industrial output as well as high volume of emissions per unit of output. Therefore, adoption of energy efficient (EE) technologies by MSMEs is crucial in improving not only their competitiveness through cost reduction but also worker wellbeing and productivity through improvements in the work environment. Enterprise owners most often do not internalize the benefits of the latter; like productivity gains due to reduction in exposure of workers to heat, pollution etc. Lack of information, financing options, skilled technical personnel, poor management practices etc. are some of the important barriers faced by MSMEs. Our proposed work seeks to address information gaps in the adoption of EE technologies which are cost-effective as well as have productivity co-benefits through impacts on the workforce. This is vital for reducing fossil fuels energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission and co-pollutants in air and their harmful effects on the workforce.