14 November 2006
Maharashtra, India

Since 2007, CDM wind power projects in India have more than tripled, with over 80 projects registered to date. In fact, wind is the largest single CDM project type in India, with over 300 project applications in the pipeline as of September 2009.

Wind power has been developed rapidly over the last 10 years in the state of Maharashtra. In 1996, the Maharashtra Energy Develop- ment Agency (MEDA) initiated a demonstra- tion wind power project with Suzlon Energy Ltd. which acquired huge tracts of land in the Satara region with the purpose of build- ing up wind power infrastructure and sell- ing the power plants along with the land to other companies at a minimum price of Rs

50 million (around m765,000) each. Today the Satara region has more than 1,000 Wind Energy Generators (WEGs) owned by MEDA, Suzlon, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and others on an area of about 40 km squared.

Cheap land and infrastructure coupled with bulk subsidies at source made the energy fi- nancing easy, but the possibility of earning extra revenue through selling carbon credits benefited the projects further. Most of the projects approved for entry into the CDM al- ready existed prior to entering the scheme, managing to pass through the Executive Board despite providing little evidence that they would not have been built anyway.

13 November 2006
Maharashtra, India

The private companies operating on the site sell electricity to Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) at Rs 3.16 per unit while they consume electricity provided by MSEB at a concessional rate of Rs 1.20 per unit. In 2006, Suzlon was investigated by the Indian tax authorities and found to have made false depreciation claims on wind farm equipment to evade taxes, totalling between Rs 700- 1,000 crore (around US$ 200 million).

In the case of Satara, second only to Tamil Nadu in terms of installed capacity, it is estimated that the region could produce up to 3,650 megawatts in 28 feasible sites. The plant load factor (PLF) for wind turbines, or what the turbines actually produce, in India averages 20 per cent, which is low compared to global averages. But what is worse, Maharashtra’s average has decreased over the years from 19 per cent in 2002-3 to a low of 11.7 per cent in 2007-8.

This suggests that the subsidies attached to building wind farms and greenwashing the effects of owning them are more sought after by the companies than the energy produced by them.

Local communities near the high plateau do not receive electricity from the generators. In fact, these lands were once common lands used mostly for animal grazing. Today, people from the local communities are not allowed on the lands and are criminalised if caught on the lands.

14 November 2006
Maharashtra, India

Bharat Forge Ltd., owned by the Kalyani Group, is a supplier of engine and chassis components. To meet electricity demand at its plant at Pune, Bharat Forge initially planned to build a 4.2 megawatt wind energy power project near the village of Kadve Khurd. The project was registered in the CDM in 2003 for the period of 2001-2008 with a total estimated ‘emissions reduction’ of 60,315 tonnes of CO2 e. The project was renewed for a six-year cycle in May 2009 to run until 2015.

The villagers of Kadve Khurd knew nothing about the wind project before Bharat Forge Ltd began erecting turbines on their lands. Local residents launched strong resistance to protect their lands, which were being forcibly acquired. A total of 30 wind turbines stand in and around the village of Kadve Khurd today, and the community is forcibly kept off the lands.

The project occupies largely devottar or temple properties and privately held farmland. The deal for these lands was struck with a village headman whose family has been traditionally holding the land on behalf of the villagers. The villagers had old colonial-era documents dating back to the 19th century but no ‘official’ and ‘new’ title to the land. Accordingly, the company did not compensate them. The local administration refused to hear the villagers’ case, and in vain they sought justice from the Collector’s Court in Pune. The Collector refused to stop construction of the wind turbines and annulled a motion to that effect that had been passed by a lower court. The company, with support from the police, responded by falsely accusing several of the agitating villagers of robbery and equipment theft.

In the village, people view the wind turbines as harmful junk that provides no local benefits. It supplies neither electricity nor employment, and destroyed the only common pasture of the village. In addition, the company wielded a ban on cattle grazing in the project area.

Villagers at Kadve Khurd have never heard of the Clean Development Mechanism or carbon credits.

14 November 2006
Maharashtra, India

“We showed our documents to the company for our rights to the land and the company then showed us the ‘deed of sale’ to the land. This document was signed by someone in Pune and it is a faulty document because no one in the village ever agreed to this or signed such a thing. All of us [from the village] tried to stop the construction and the company went to the police station in Tanali. The police would not accept their complaint so they went to the Umbras police station and filed charges against us for property damage of 50,000 rupees and other materials and for stealing windmill materials.

The police came at 2 am to take 15-20 of us to the police station. Most were held for three hours but they kept me for a day. The lawyer from the company went to talk to me at the police station but I refused to cooperate and the police got angry. They were going to beat me but I threatened the police and they let me go. The police said that they forgave me and let me free.

Later other police officers were sent by the company to the village to threaten my life so I fled the village for two months. The company then stopped work for 14 days and hired a lawyer and made new papers. The lawyer stated that in 1981 there was a new land accord that we didn’t know about. I went to the company with the documents and the company offered me 50,000 rupees for the land, but I got really suspicious and thought there was something bigger happening and then the company took me to court. I went to the lawyer and sent a notice to the company. They called me Satura and offered me 35 lakh rupees just to keep quiet, just to keep quiet! I refused and went to court but the company would not go to court and we are still waiting for the court decision.”