With Time, Effort And Luck, Ladakh Could Become North India’s Power Hub

The government says converting Jammu and Kashmir into a Union territory (UT) will encourage a business investment boom, accelerating economic growth and employment. That’s a bit of a fantasy right now. Yet, one massive project worth Rs 45,000 crore is indeed coming up, with little fanfare. This is neither in Jammu nor in the Kashmir Valley, but in Ladakh. Promoted by the Solar Energy Corporation of India, it aims to install 7,500 MW of solar energy by 2023. Not many readers may know that of all the places in India, the cold desert of Ladakh receives the highest solar energy, thanks to cloudless days and a clear mountain sky. Ladakh is in the rain shadow of the Himalayas and so gets very little rain during the monsoon. It gets some snow in winter from westerly winds, but even so is mostly cloudless. Hence, its conversion rate of the sun’s energy into electricity is the highest in India.