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Scalable Solutions for People and Our Planet...
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Our People
 Dr Ashok Khosla
(Chairman)
Dr.Ashok Khosla is Chairperson of the Development Alternatives Group. Currently, he is also President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) , Co-President of the Club of Rome, and Co-Chair of the UNEP International Resource Panel.
Dr Khosla is an Honorary Officer of The Order of the British Empire, a Senior Ashoka Fellow, Patron of LEAD-India and has received the United Nations Sasakawa Environment Prize, the Schwab Foundation Award for Outstanding Social Entrepreneur and the Stockholm Challenge Award. He has a PhD in Experimental Physics from Harvard University and a BA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University. For more information please log on to
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Dr Arun Kumar
(President – Business Initiatives)
Dr. Arun Kumar is President-Business Initiatives, Development Alternatives Group and has wide experience in the areas of Research, Technology Design, Systems Engineering, Business Development and systems required for large-scale creation of sustainable livelihoods. He is responsible for development and promotion of technology packages in the areas of Decentralised Power Production, Building Materials, Biomass Utilisation and other livelihood Packages.
Dr. Kumar represents the DA Group on several national committees of the Department of Science and Technology and other Ministries. He has a PhD in Physical Metallurgy and Science of Materials from University of Birmingham and a BE in Metallurgical Engineering from IIT Kanpur.
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George C. Varughese
(President – Enterprise Development)
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George C Varughese is President - Enterprise Development, Development Alternatives Group and has wide area experience in the area of Programme Planning & Management, Institutional Design, Regional Environmental Planning, Environment Impact Assessment, Natural Resource Management, Information Systems Management, Policy Formulation and Construction Management.
George is responsible for building up a trans-disciplinary group capable of addressing issues related to environment and sustainable development. He has travelled extensively in the course of contributing to global discourse on Sustainable Development. He has a Masters Degree with distinction, in Urban and Regional Planning, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi and a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering, Regional Engineering College, Rourkela.
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Shrashtant Patara
(Chief Operating Officer of TARA)
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Shrashtant Patara, Chief Operating Officer of TARA, is an architect by training. He has been associated with the Development Alternatives Group since 1988, providing research expertise, management capability and strategic direction to teams engaged in the promotion of sustainable technology, creation of green jobs and fulfilment of basic needs amongst the rural poor. His current work focuses on the incubation of new service delivery models and capacity building measures for enhanced entrepreneurship and livelihood security; foremost amongst which are projects aimed at creating community benefits around the use of renewable energy, particularly through decentralized generation of power.
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Vijay Chaturvedi
(Senior Program Director)
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Vijay Chaturvedi is a Senior Program Director, Business Development and Partnership Management at TARA. His present responsibilities include design, promotion, and implementation of projects for strengthening sustainable livelihood systems and incubation of Green Business models. His key area of work has been Aggregation and Market Development for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as well as Social Enterprises. He has also been engaging with the corporate sector for CSR and BoP Access partnerships along with Influence Area Development Projects and Joint Sustainable Business Initiatives. In his career of over 27 years, Vijay has been employed with various MNCs, Export Houses and Development Sector Organizations where he managed the marketing, international trading and business management function.
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Dr. Soumen Maity
(Material Scientist)
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Dr. Soumen Maity is a Material Scientist by profession and currently leads the Technology Management business at TARA. Soumen is with TARA over a decade anchoring the interface between innovation and business .At one hand he guides and mentors the Clean Technology systems at the Development Alternatives Group, on the other, he also leads the incubation of developed technologies at TARA. His expertise lies in the building material sector wherein he has been instrumental in exploring commercial approaches to utilization of industrial waste, improving energy efficiency and reducing environmental emissions. Currently, whilst establishing the Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln (VSBK) technology (world’s most energy efficient technology for fired clay brick production) in India, he is also engaging in disseminating the same to Asian and African countries through partner networks.
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Sharad Tiwari
(Programme Manager)
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Sharad Tiwari is Programme Manager, Energy and Enterprise Development at TARA. An MBA in Marketing and Finance, Sharad specializes in Project Management, Rural Electrification through Renewable Energy and Promotion of Micro and Small Enterprises.
Currently, he is working as a Project Management Specialist on a project aimed at Village Electrification through Sustainable use of Renewable Energy.
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Manoj Mahata
(Program Manager)
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Manoj Mahata is a qualified engineer & MBA and is working in the capacity of Program Manager at TARA. He has over 12 years of work experience, six of which have been spent with the Development Alternatives (DA) Group. His core job functions at TARA are to conceptualize, design, manage and evaluate projects and programs. An important part of his job is to leverage market research inputs to develop and demonstrate energy efficient technology based social enterprise models. Manoj brings with him production and marketing experience to promote various technology solutions at Development Alternatives. His present role, as Program Manager, largely involves designing tools and methodologies to facilitate incubation of renewable energy service delivery models for local value creation.
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Madhuban Pandey
(Senior Manager)
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Madhuban Pandey is Sr. Manager at TARA Livelihood Academy, the Capacity Building and Training wing of TARA. He has been employed with the Development Alternatives Group since 2008, providing capacity building and training related services across the organization. Madhuban has acquired education qualifications in Business Management and Social Entrepreneurship followed by experience in the same domain. He is involved in creating sustainable livelihoods at the grass root level by building capacity of the people. Through collaboration with partner agencies and companies like DPIP, HP, UNDP, ILO, JICA, NABARD, he has helped people enhance their skill sets, augment income generating opportunities and set up enterprises.
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Payal Mittal
(Business Manager)
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Payal Mittal joined the TARA team as Business Manager – Corporate Partnerships in 2011. She is currently focussed on identifying and forging Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) partner relationships with corporate and corporate foundations for TARA. While on one hand she is responsible for maintaining high level contact with the key decision makers, on the other, she oversees strategic development of TARA’s corporate offers, programmes and projects with an objective to create a mutually beneficial alliance. She also doubles up as a resource for the Development Alternatives group contributing to the Business Development function and other initiatives.
Payal is a graduate in Economics Hons. and an MBA in Marketing. A good part of her career, of over seven years, has been spent managing and leading Corporate Communication (Public Relations, CSR, Internal Communications) strategy of companies such as Microsoft, Sapient Corporation, Virgin Mobile and S Tel in India.
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Kanika Verma
(Senior Manager - Green Business Initiatives)
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She spearheads initiatives for strengthening the livelihood system for producer groups and aggregates them for organised market access. She is also responsible for driving projects with corporates for BoP access. Her current responsibilities also include market extension of TARA Paper, a successful green business initiative by TARA. An entrepreneur by nature, she has seven years of experience working in Washington d c, USA including four years of running her own successful Financial and Real estate investment firm. She decided to move back to India and joined Development Alternatives group to pursue her ambition of being a social entrepreneur.
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Utparn Dubey
(Manager and Coordinator)
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Utparn Dubey is Manager and Coordinator – Project Management Services at TARA contributing to managerial and financial functions of the renewable energy projects. One of his key involvements has been with an eminent International foundation for collaboration with a consortium of telecom companies in India to bring down the carbon footprint through use of renewable energy. The project aims to provide smart power for environmentally sound economic development by delivering clean fuels and electricity services. Utparn carries a total work experience of 13 years in the core development sector with a focus on capacity building, training, formation of self help groups in rural areas and policy analysis at the urban level. He is an IT graduate with masters in Public Administration and a is presently pursuing doctorate in Public Administration
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Vivek Jhamb
(Manager - TARA Green Products and Services)
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His present work profile consists of producer group aggregation for market access of their products. He is also responsible for planning, directing and overseeing operations of green product businesses such as TARA Paper unit in Bundelkhand. Livelihood initiatives for marginalised women including Sahariya Tribes is one of the very significant programme being run in Central India under Vivek’s supervision. He has over 10 years of experience with leading telecom companies and marketing of various products and services.
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Santosh Kumar Gupta
(Deputy Manager – Energy at TARA)
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Academically an environmentalist, Santosh Kumar Gupta joined the Development Alternatives group in 2007. He is presently employed as Deputy Manager – Energy at TARA. At the company, Santosh offers expertise & know how for creation of sustainable renewable energy models based on solar, biogas and biomass. He has also been supporting the group on other environment concerns like energy efficiency, carbon footprint calculation, toolkit for energy needs and demand calculation for rural people. Off late Santosh has been involved in a project for promotion of micro hydro technology in Nepal and replication of the same in India.
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Vineet Kumar Singh
(Deputy Manager – Planning and Execution (Energy Products))
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Vineet Kumar Singh has been working as Deputy Manager – Planning and Execution (Energy Products), TARA since 2009. He holds M.Sc in Energy Systems followed by 4 years of experience in the area of Renewable Energy Technologies (RET), Biomass Assessment and Clean Development Mechanism. At TARA, he is managing the renewable energy based projects and provides technical inputs for RET (Biomass, Biogas & Solar) based power plants.
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Sunanda Jain
(Deputy Manager - TARA Livelihood Academy)
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Sunanda Jain is Deputy Manager at TARA Livelihood Academy (training and capacity building wing of TARA). She has pursued M.Sc. in Resource Management and Design Application, with specialization in Training and Development from University of Delhi. Sunanda has had experience in Sustainable Development particularly Green Buildings, through her dissertation work (a collaborative research with Michigan State University, USA). She is presently responsible for organizing, facilitating and networking with clients for training programmes, developing new training modules, customizing existing packages for various organizations and lastly developing marketing tools for TLA.
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Siddharth Bountra
(Deputy Manager - Water Product and Services)
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Siddharth Bountra is Deputy Manager – Water Product and Services at TARA. He is responsible for managing & marketing the Jal-TARA (water quality monitoring/ assurance and purification) product portfolio. He designs and implements water filtration technology based business models with a focus on setting up micro-enterprises at the village level. A mechanical engineer by education, Siddharth was earlier involved in business planning for an automotive manufacturing firm in India.
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Kalpit Mishra
(Deputy Manager – Technology Management services)
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Kalpit Mishra, Deputy Manager – Technology Management services at TARA has done his MBA in Rural Management. His responsibilities include working on projects which involve incubation & commercialization of TARA technologies. Besides, he is also a part of the project management team of TARA working on the renewable energy projects. His interest areas include: Natural Resource Management, Rural Production & Livelihood, Renewable energy systems & Gender Equity.
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R.Poorna
(Deputy Manager – Community Initiatives)
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R.Poorna, Deputy Manager – Community Initiatives, TARA is responsible for planning and execution of community development programmes with a focus on promoting skill and enterprise development. Her expertise lies in designing and implementing projects in the area of Sustainable habitat and practices for “Green Building” Initiatives besides working on exploring green jobs opportunities. She has pursued M.Sc. in Resource Management and Design Application, with a specialization in Environment Management from University of Delhi.
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Rashi
(Deputy Manager - TARA)
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Rashi is a Deputy Manager at TARA. With her Masters in Social Entrepreneurship from TISS, she professionalizes in developing and managing Social Enterprises. Her specific area of initiatives include understanding business perspectives of various stakeholders towards climate change and related issues, innovating energy- based intervention models, formulating livelihood initiatives and monetizing social values to various sustainable activities.
Her present portfolio of work configures triple bottom line impact to TARA by integrating social and financial value creation with ecological sustainability and deals with designing and implementing energy- based enterprise models for enhancing livelihood potential with special focus on gender integrity. She also works in the area of integrating carbon management and livelihood enhancement under the ambit of renewable energy.
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Ritika Sood
(Deputy Manager - Livelihood Support Services)
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Ritika Sood is Deputy Manager; Livelihood Support Services, TARA. She holds an MBA in Rural Management and her expertise lies in Rural Production and Livelihoods, Corporate Social Responsibility, Gender, Development and Project Management. Her main work responsibilities at present involve strengthening livelihood systems for communities and producer groups as well as connecting them with the emerging market needs. Ritika has a passion for performing arts, especially drama, and intends to leverage this in future to bring about social change through participatory theatre.
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Varun Malhotra
(Deputy Manager - Incubation services at TARA)
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Varun Malhotra is Deputy Manager - Incubation services at TARA. His responsibilities at TARA include facilitation of credit and technical support for housing and other infrastructure related initiatives. He carries a master’s degree in Rural Management from KIIT School of Rural Management. While studying, Varun was exposed to development projects in the area of micro finance at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.
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Dharmraj Singh
(Deputy Manager - Projects for Programme Management Services)
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Dharmraj Singh is Deputy Manager - Projects for Programme Management Services at TARA. He is responsible for project management, operation and stakeholder management of renewable energy projects He has pursued masters in Rural Management from KIIT School of Rural Management. Previously, Dharamraj has also served the Indian Army for 6 yrs.
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Pradeep Kumar Pandey
(Training Executive - TARA Livelihood Academy)
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Pradeep Kumar Pandey is a Training Executive at TARA Livelihood Academy and is based at TARAgram Orchha. At the academy, he is managing various capacity building and training activities and is also working as a trainer for livelihood related subjects. He is responsible for managing TLAs Vocational Training Centres (VTC) and Community Training Centres (CTC) set up to enhance livelihood opportunities through skill enhancement and employment linkages. He has also been exposed to the area of Sustainable Development, particularly Green Energy, Green Buildings, Green Agricultural Practices and Green Paper. He is a post graduate in Economics.
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Archana Kumari
(Management Executive)
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Archana Kumari Joined TARA team as Management Executive. This profile includes all of three i.e. Finance, HR and Marketing jobs profile. She is MBA in Finance, and associated with Development Alternatives Group from last two years. She is currently managing MIS, Project Tracking and business process feedback and reporting. Besides, she is also responsible for financial reporting and techno-legal contracting.
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