India, Aug. 6 -- Solar-powered bulk milk chillers are helping women in 100 Marathwada villages store milk locally and earn directly from dairy.

Around 3,000 to 3,500 women in drought-prone Dharashiv and Latur are benefiting from the village-level cold storage network.

The centres collect about 13,500 litres of milk a day and allow payments to be credited directly to women's bank accounts every 10 days.

The solar-backed cold chain also reduces milk spoilage, cuts dependence on diesel generators and is estimated to save about 150 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.

Kalinda Ashok Survase, 45, gives water and fodder to her two cows at a shed in front of her home in Jahagirdarwadi village in Maharashtra's Dharashiv district. She then cleans th...