Awards and recognitions
SELCO India under the leadership of Hande has won the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy 2005 and Accenture Economic Development Award for 2005.[9]
In 2007, SELCO INDIA again won the Ashden Award, this time for "Outstanding Achievement" in energy sector.[10] The award was presented by Al Gore, former vice president of the United States of America.
Hande was named the Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship[5][11] and the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation.
In 2008, Hande was chosen by Business Today as one of the "21 young leaders for India’s 21st century".[5] Later, in June 2008, India Today named him one of the 50 pioneers of change in India.[12] He was elected an Ashoka Fellow in 2008.
In 2011 he was awarded the Magsaysay Award for "his passionate and pragmatic efforts to put solar power technology in the hands of the poor, through a social enterprise that brings customized, affordable, and sustainable electricity to India’s vast rural populace, encouraging the poor to become asset creators.”.[13][14]
Hande was also awarded the Karnataka Rajyotsava Prashasti in 2011 by the Government of Karnataka.[15][16]
In 2013 the trustees of University of Massachusetts awarded him the Doctorate of Humane Letters.[16][17]
In 2014 IIT Kharagpur conferred upon him the distinguished alumnus award.[18]
