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Shri Sai Prasadalaya
Shirdi is one of the most revered pilgrimage destinations of India. Located in the state of Maharashtra, it is frequently visited by thousands of people on a daily basis. And the iconic Saibaba temple in Shirdi stands tall in its grace of being the holy place. The temple has one of the biggest kitchens in India and one of the largest cooking systems.

HISTORY
The Sri Sai Sansthan Prasadalaya in Shirdi, Maharashtra was set up in 2009. Built at a cost of Rs 240 million, it was inaugurated by the honarable former President of India, Mrs Pratibha Patil. The complex is built on 7.5 acres of land and has a developed area of 183,000 sq feet and it is 700 meters from the main Sai Baba temple. A gigantic hall has been constructed on the ground floor, which can seat 3,500 devotees. Two separate halls have been built on the first floor with a seating capacity of 1,000 each. Fourteen domes made of polycarbonate and Manglorian tiles have been constructed to give sufficient natural light to the hall, so that power cuts do not disturb the activities in the prasadalaya during daytime.

The Sri Sai Sansthan Prasadalaya has also bagged the coveted Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) and Solar Cooker Excellence Awards- 2016 by the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE).

THE KITCHEN AND THE OPERATIONS
Sri Sai Baba Sansthan is very well known for being one of the largest solar kitchens in India and this Solar System Projects for community cooking was installed in 2014 which could cook food for 3,000 people. Owing to this success, the plan was expanded. 73 solar dishes each of 16 sq meter size, are mounted on the rooftop and these dishes concentrate sunlight on receivers that contain water, generating steam that is piped down to the kitchen for cooking meals per day. The system operates for 3 hours for preparation of breakfast. More than 2 tonnes of rice is cooked through this plant every day, saving cooking gas of up to Rs 20,000. Till date, the plant has saved Rs 60 lakhs for the trust.

The steam system at Shirdi generates about 3,500 kg of steam every day. The system can generate steam for cooking even in the absence of electricity to run the feed water pump for circulating water in the system. The hot water pumped in, can cook 2000 kg of daal and rice and can clean all the used oily vessels. There are manual helpers as well who work in shifts. Huge refrigerating rooms have been built for keeping vegetables fresh. The kitchen also empowers the local farmers by buying fresh veggies from them owing to a demand of 2,000 kg of vegetables every day. Furthermore, they have installed solar water heaters and solar lights in residential areas for devotees. The temple also houses two imported dish washing machines, two imported vegetable cutter machines, three vegetable and rice washing machines, and a grinding flour online mill unit along with living up to the tag of a self-sustainable kitchen. The temple also follows the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), standards of cooking.

The total system has an area of 1168 meter sq. comprising of 40 concentrators. The system was commissioned during 2009 by Gadhia Solar Energy Systems Pvt. Ltd. Prior to the implementation of the CST system the establishment was using LPG as a fuel for its end use consumption. The solar cooking system is integrated with the existing gas-fired boiler and helps save 50 per cent of the boiler’s fuel, which amounts to 314 kg of LPG per day. The savings per annum total up to Rs 7.5 lakh.

QUANTITY AND TYPE OF FOOD SERVED
The mega kitchen of Shirdi in Maharashtra draws thousands of devotees every day. It consists of three mega kitchen halls and prepares 40,000 meals every single day along with breakfast packets. The prasadalaya serves simple Maharashtrian food comprising dal, rice, chapatti, two vegetables and a sweet. The complete meal is available for the devotees at highly reasonable price of Rs 10/- and for those devotees who cannot afford to pay, there is another hall, which has a capacity of 150 people and the trust serves food for free. At present, in the new Sai Prasadalaya, everyday 25 to 30 thousand Sai devotees take meal as a prasad. During the time of vacation and festivals of Lord Sai baba the number of Sai devotees hikes up to 55000. People also come here to voluntarily help. Every day more than 100 people come here to just make chapattis.

FINANCIAL DETAILS
The project is set up at a cost of Rs. 100.37 Lakhs with grant availed from MNRE of the order of Rs. 58.40 Lakhs. The plant has an IRR without subsidy of 42.20 % and payback period of 7 Years and 8 Months. With subsidy the IRR is 58.19 % and payback period is 4 Years.