• The SHG-run canteen at Ghughus was cramped, poorly ventilated and serving just 30-35 customers daily with a monthly income of Rs. 20,000-25,000.
  • Adani Foundation, with a 50% contribution from the SHG, renovated the space with better flooring, lighting, ventilation and hygienic cooking arrangements.
  • Daily footfall nearly doubled to 60 patrons and monthly net income tripled to Rs. 60,000.

India: ACC, the cement and building materials company of the diversified Adani Portfolio, along with the Adani Foundation, through its CSR initiatives at ACC Chanda, is strengthening women-led enterprises in rural Maharashtra, proving that the right investment in the right place can change everything.

The SHG-run canteen at Ghughus had never lacked ambition, it lacked space, light, air, and the basic infrastructure that turns a food business from something people tolerate into a frequent haunt people revisit. Cramped seating, poor ventilation, and inadequate hygiene facilities kept daily footfall stubbornly stuck at 30 to 35 customers plateauing the monthly net income to Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000. The women running it were working hard but the canteen just wasn’t working in their favour.

Adani Foundation in ACC Chanda recognised that this was not a failing business but a constrained one and identified its potential. The space needed a structural intervention. The SHG contributed 50% of the renovation cost, reflecting their belief in the future of the enterprise while Adani Foundation supported a comprehensive overhaul with the remaining cost. The place was revamped with new flooring, improved lighting and ventilation. The cooking area was reorganised heroing hygiene. The seating capacity which was the canteen’s most visible bottleneck was expanded to welcome the customers it had previously been turning away.

The transformation was immediate and measurable. Daily customer footfall nearly doubled, rising to around 60 patrons. Monthly net income tripled to approximately Rs. 60,000. For the SHG members these returns have been both financial and personal along with building real economic resilience for the women who run it.

What the Ghughus canteen renovation demonstrates is something Adani Foundation has long understood about community development – that the most effective interventions are rarely the most complicated ones. Sometimes it is a better kitchen, a brighter room, and enough seating. Sometimes that is all it takes to turn a livelihood into a business, and a business into a foundation for something more.