Gorakhpur, June 26, 2026: The Akshaya Patra Foundation inaugurated a new centralised kitchen in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, with the capacity to prepare and serve one lakh hot meals daily to school children under the PM POSHAN Scheme. The facility was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, accompanied by Minister of Primary Education Sandeep Singh. The Akshaya Patra Foundation was represented by Co-Founder and Vice Chairman Chanchalapathi Dasa and National President and Trustee Bharatarshabha Dasa.
The Foundation first launched its school feeding programme in Gorakhpur in 2019, initially covering around 5,000 children. The programme expanded over time through a temporary facility to reach 17,000 children, and subsequently grew to serve 35,000 children across 310 schools. With the new kitchen now operational, coverage has been extended to 55,000 children across 546 schools, with a phased plan to eventually reach one lakh children across 1,570 schools.
Built across 2.5 acres, the facility uses a hybrid gas-and-steam operational model and is powered in part by a 160-kilowatt solar installation. It operates 23 electric vehicles for meal delivery and is equipped with two roti-making machines with a combined output of 40,000 rotis per hour. Water conservation measures include rainwater harvesting infrastructure and a two-lakh litre capacity wastewater treatment system. A biogas facility is planned for the second phase.
Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh, said: "When we provide nutritious food to a child, we are not merely serving a meal; we are nurturing the child's mind and body. A developed nation can only be built when its children are educated, healthy and value-driven. Nutrition, education and values are the three pillars on which the future of a strong, self-reliant and developed Bharat rests. I am very happy to see this kitchen of Akshaya Patra maintaining high standards of cleanliness and hygiene. Akshaya Patra's work is definitely to be appreciated."
Chanchalapathi Dasa, Co-Founder and Vice-Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, said: "This kitchen in Gorakhpur stands as testament to what public-private collaboration can achieve. We are deeply grateful to the Government of Uttar Pradesh and to Shri Soma Shekar for their partnership and trust. Together, we are strengthening child nutrition, supporting education and contributing towards a well-nourished, well-educated and developed India. Every kitchen we open is grounded in a simple conviction: no child should be deprived of education because of hunger. This is the mission we pursue every single day through work such as this, made possible only when the government, corporates and organisations like ours move forward as one."
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