Belagavi entrepreneur helps commercial units overcome LPG shortage using alternative energy sources

Belagavi innovator Sameer Kanabargi helps businesses switch to biomass energy, overcoming LPG shortages with sustainable alternatives.

Since the war in West Asia began a month ago, hotels and industries in Belagavi have been facing the shortage of commercial LPG cylinders.

However, a third of them have switched to biomass-based stoves, water heaters and steam generators, thanks to Sameer Kanabargi, an innovator and entrepreneur who runs Phoenix Industries.

For over 35 years, this small unit in the Udyambag Industrial Estate in Belagavi has been silently working in the field of alternative energy sources and disseminating technology developed by premier institutions like IIT, IISc, TERI and others.

Phoenix Industries has designed and produced a range of equipment for the Indian Army and the Border Security Force. Some of the over two dozen tools and implements produced by Mr. Kanabargi are his own inventions.

Phoenix produces biomass-based stoves, water heaters, gasifiers, steam generators and other equipment. They can be used to feed a small family of two to a crowd of two lakh.

They use inputs, including agriculture waste like bagasse, stems, leaves and other farm residue, twigs, tree branches, coconut shells or other waste, paper, cardboard and plywood.