Bangalore, PTI: These cook stoves are now being made available in more than 700 villages in Karnataka and 300 villages in Tamil Nadu through a multi-tier distribution strategy. They will be introduced across the country in a phased manner. For rural women exposed to hazardous toxic emissions and smoke from burning biomass like wood, crop waste and animal dung during cooking, there is now cause for cheer. US-based non-profit organisation Envirofit International has introduced a range of clean burning biomass cook stoves that would reduce toxic emissions by as much as 80 per cent, while using 50 per cent less fuel and reducing cooking time by 40 per cent. These cook stoves are now being made available in more than 700 villages in Karnataka and 300 villages in Tamil Nadu through a multi-tier distribution strategy. They will be introduced across the country in a phased manner. "We plan to have 40 channel partners covering 600 outlets in these two states by 2008 (this year-end)", Envirofit International Director (Sales and Product Management) Martha Kohlhagen told PTI. Five different models of cook stoves have now been introduced, priced between Rs 500 and Rs 2,000. "We are in discussions with financial institutions to provide low cost financing options to households that require financial support to buy the cook stoves", Kohlhagen said. These colourful stoves, with contemporary designs, run on the same biomass fuels like wood, crop waste and animal dung, which women in these areas already use and therefore have access to. It was initially not easy to communicate the need for alternative cookstoves to rural households. But once the women understood the dangers of Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) and used the stoves, they were delighted with the results, the officials said. Market research was done in several parts of India to determine typical cooking habits, types of food, typical biomass uses, preferred colours, among others. This information was integrated into creating a stove tailored to the needs of end-users and one that would have national appeal. For instance, research indicated that Indian women in rural India prefer to squat and cook. Hence these stoves were redesigned to suit this requirement. The pilot study helped Envirofit further finetune the product, the officials said. Envirofit's distribution model is three-fold, where it taps regional distributors, village entrepreneurship programmes, NGOs and Self Help Groups. The aim is to develop local and regional enterprises through the channel network so that the business becomes self-sustaining. The current channel network in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu includes dealers, distributors, village entrepreneurs as well as non-profit organisations like "MYRADA", the Tamil Nadu Foundation and the Cauvery Women's Federation. "Significant business opportunities exist for local entrepreneurs, distributors and retailers, as Envirofit plans to increase its footprint across India by 2010",Kohlhagen said. According to an Envirofit official, the World Health Organisation estimates that pollution levels in rural Indian kitchens are 30 times higher than recommended levels, and six times higher than air pollution levels found in New Delhi. Envirofit also said India accounts for 80 per cent of the 600,000 premature deaths that occur in South East Asia annually due to exposure to IAP resulting from burning biomass during cooking in the home. A pilot project was conducted earlier in Chitradurga in Karnataka and Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu to study Indian cooking habits, which are very traditional.