Karno GuhathakurtaIt was a trade exhibition abuzz with the restrained chatter of busy suited executives at company stalls making contacts and finalising deals. Nothing out of place except that this trade was about renewable energy technologies, which have unconventional reasons for growth. First, these technologies are seen as the most economical and feasible source of energy for millions of people unconnected to the electricity grid and having no electricity to light their houses or cook their food. This energy poverty is disabling and needs to be eradicated.

Jonas Hamberg stumbles on fictitious companies dealing in public funds. It was all there on the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation (RREC) website—names of companies, addresses and phone numbers. But calling them up did not work. We were to find out the reason later. I am talking about the companies that Lanco Infratech used as fronts to get hold of more solar capacity than it was allowed under JNNSM, acronym for Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. We wanted to know more about these companies.

Tuticorin, a coastal district in southern Tamil Nadu, is a large hub for coal-based thermal energy generation with many more such projects in the pipeline. Currently there are 2 power stations commissioned so far. The Tuticorin Thermal Power Station being the largest of them all, as of now, produces power to suffice as much as one-thirds of Tuticorin's demand. The power plant managed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, produces power through a capacity of 1050 MW. Besides, there is the Ind-Bharath Power Infra Private Ltd which has a 189 MW power generating capacity.