Pandri, Purulia district
Pandri is a small village in Purulia district, West Bengal, known for being India’s first decentralized solar-powered village. It sits at the foot of the Ajodhya Hills, about 18 km from Jhalda. The village has about 80 mud huts in three clusters and is reached by a winding dirt road through the hills. Water comes from a dam nearby.
In 2015, the Art of Living Foundation and its Sri Sri Rural Development Program built a solar plant here, costing about 4.5 million rupees. Pandri was chosen because it has year-round water from the dam. Building the plant was hard due to bad roads, steep climbs for supply trucks, and initial reluctance from workers in an area affected by Maoists. The system covers about 2,000 square feet with about 75 solar panels, producing roughly 1.2 kW per panel to power around 80 households.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 03:13 (CET).