How the world’s largest solar park is shaping up in Karnataka

Karnataka govt aims to generate by 2018-end around 2700 MW from the Pavagada solar park, in a region that has seen 54 droughts in the last 60 years.

Heat that can give you blisters. Fluoride contaminated water that can leave your bones brittle. Endless stretches of barren land where rains have stayed away for almost half a century. Thorny bushes the only vegetation in sight for miles.

An apt description of Pavagada—less than 200 km from Bengaluru, but it may as well be on another planet. The region is part of a large semi-arid tract in eastern Karnataka’s border district of Tumkur, which sits on an elevated plateau with several rocky hills all around. The state government has had to declare the region drought-hit 54 times in the last 60 years. Read more….