Gopal Karna, a resident of Janakpur, Madhesh Province, has an electronic workshop where he repairs electronic and electrical appliances including electric induction cookstoves (ICs). He usually has a pile of ICs waiting for repairs. Gopal’s workshop offers much needed repair and maintenance service not only to local ICs users but also to those in nearby areas such as Rautahat, Lahan and Chandrapur. Gopal says that repair of ICs mostly entails replacing malfunctioning switches and Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs). Their cost ranges from Rs. 200 (switches) to 1,200 (IGBT). For each repair, Gopal charges a fee of Rs. 300. Gopal previously worked for Heifer International as a project manager. After realizing that the pay was insufficient for him, he decided to work full time in his workshop. Today he earns between Rs. 60,000 to 1,50,000 per month.

Gopal has a background in electronic repairs. He has been repairing watches, TVs, mobile phones, inverters for the last 30 years. He received his first training in India and later received training through CTEVT in Kathmandu also.   He got acquainted with IC when his brother got one from Europe 15 years ago and since then he started to learn about fixing minor faults in ICs as well. However, he started providing major IC repair services only after receiving a two-day training from Mithila Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha under an electric cooking promotion project funded by the Sustainable Energy Challenge Fund (SECF). SECF is a challenge fund mechanism promoted by the Government of Nepal through Alternative Energy Promotion Centre with technical assistance from Nepal Renewable Energy Programme and financial support from the British Embassy in Kathmandu. SECF provides financial support to projects which are marginally viable and has greater social impact to make them commercially viable.

Gopal’s workshop is currently contributing towards IC users gaining confidence in adopting this appliance because they know they have a repair facility nearby. Furthermore, the availability of a local repair facility can also help in upscaling of ICs as it gives consumers more confidence to rely on them for cooking.