Rajasthan Royals’ pledge to always bat for a sustainable and greener future is rooted deeply into the personal philosophy and worldview of team chairperson Ranjit Barthakur, who often describes himself as ‘a product of nature’.
Barthakur’s long years in the Eastern Himalayas - a region he carries deep love for - taught him that nature is best understood not through institutions, but through the wisdom of the people who depend on it.
From this lived experience emerged Naturenomics, a belief that nature and the economy are interdependent, not competing forces.
Through the Balipara Foundation, which Barthakur founded in 2007, Naturenomics has turned into real impact on the ground, restoring over 5,500 hectares of land, planting 6.45 million trees and training more than 36,000 people to protect nature while sustaining their own livelihoods.
For Barthakur, the real change isn’t in the numbers - it is in teaching people to value what nature gives them.
Never miss an update on Rajasthan Royals—get the latest articles, news, and more by clicking here!
Barthakur explains that the world often rewards only what it can price - money, consumption and GDP - while ignoring what quietly sustains us every day: soil, rivers, trees, pollinators and the air we breathe. He believes this way of valuing the world must change.
“We don’t respect nature because we don’t value it,” he says. “But there is no economy without ecology.”
The same belief has also found its way into the culture of the Royals as well. In 2022, the team hosted its first sustainable match and partnered with Schneider Electric under the Green Yodha pledge to begin reducing the game’s climate impact.
The goal was not symbolism, but a shift in behaviour, starting with the franchise itself.
The effort gained strength in 2023 when Luminous Power Technologies joined as principal partners.
Together with the Royal Rajasthan Foundation, the partnership now supports communities that live close to forests and natural ecosystems, helping them protect both their environment and their livelihoods.
Programmes like Pink Promise take this work directly to the people who are most affected and most responsible for caring for the land.
For the Royals, this is not a question of choosing between business and the planet. It is about showing that a sports team can succeed on the field while also looking after the world around it.
The franchise sees sustainability as gratitude - a way of giving back to the same natural systems that make sport, movement and community possible.
By weaving Ranjit Barthakur’s Naturenomics into its culture, Rajasthan Royals aim to show that cricket can do more than entertain - it can also protect, restore and uplift.
