Shilpa Shetty adopts four villages

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty is an avid green activist. She was the highest individual donor for a green campaign overtaking fellow actors Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Preity Zinta.

Shilpa donated Rs.1.2 million for NDTV's Greenathon, a campaign initiated by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The actress has adopted four villages - each costing Rs.300,000 - in support of TERI's 'Lighting a Billion Lives' project that aims at solar powering villages across the country.

Apart from Shilpa, other generous donors for the campaign included Shah Rukh Khan who has donated Rs.1.5 million along with the "Billu" team.

While Shah Rukh and the "Billu" team together adopted five villages, Akshay Kumar's son Aarav became the youngest donor of the campaign by adopting one village.

The 24-hour non-stop 'Greenathon' managed to generate over Rs.24 million through corporates, Bollywood stars, musicians, environmentalists, NGOs and educational institutions, said a press release.

Sanjay Dutt and family, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal, Vivek Oberoi, Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi, cricketer Yuvraj Singh, Nokia and Coca-Cola too have donated for the cause.

Greenathon was a TV campaign and included on-the-ground activities such as clean up drives in Mumbai and Delhi, a 24-hour marathon run by model-actor Milind Soman, and a musical extravaganza by Bollywood stars.