In March 2015, Sunil Lalvani—CEO of the Lalvani family’s conglomerate—saw two children in Atintan, Ghana, gulping water from a dirty puddle. The sight sparked an instant response: a solar‑powered kiosk that would tap into a nearby borehole and deliver potable water to the village.
The kiosk, the project’s first prototype, was a modest, off‑grid unit that cost roughly ₹1.2 million to install. It operated as a corporate‑social‑responsibility pilot under the Lalvani Group, but the founders were quick to re‑brand it as a standalone social enterprise when the community’s demand outpaced the single kiosk’s capacity.
Project Maji’s 10th‑anniversary report, released in 2025, cites 126 million litres of water dispensed to over 380 000 people—a figure that eclipses the original 1 200‑person reach of the Atintan kiosk. The reach now spans three countries: Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.
Technically, the project has evolved from a single kiosk to a modular system called MajiPlus, which connects several dispensing points to one central solar‑powered source. Remote monitoring, digital payment tokens and a micro‑grid backup have turned the kiosks into sustainable, low‑maintenance infrastructure.
Geographically, the initiative launched in Ghana in 2015, expanded to Kenya in 2019 and began pilot work in Uganda by the end of 2022. Project Maji’s long‑term ambition is to provide continuous, reliable access to clean drinking water for one million people in rural Africa by 2030.
For the villagers of Atintan, the kiosk has become a lifeline. Kofi, a 45‑year‑old farmer, says he now spends 30 minutes fetching water instead of four hours walking to a distant stream. He adds, “We drink safely and can focus on growing our crops.”