Other issues

The farmhouses and land where Akal villagers grow bajra are located far away from the village. According to the villagers, Suzlon has plans on making new windmill sites where their farm houses are. The villagers see this both as an opportunity and a disadvantage. It's opportunistic if they can sell their land to Suzlon for a large sum of money, and also be employed during construction. The disadvantage is that they lose their farming land.

For Suzlon it is important to do whatever it can to finish a windmill site on time.

The engineer explained that if they have to purchase land from the villagers, then they usually give them any amount of money they want:

“If the private land is there…. And the cost (of the land) is not more than 50,000 rupees, then these people [villagers] require five lakh rupees for this land. But it’s an urgency basis, so we just give the payment to the villagers. We just give five lakh rupees to the villagers. Otherwise we can’t install our projects on a timely basis. The target is there. If the tower is not installed on that private land; how we can achieve my target?” (Suzlon engineer)

Enercon engineer 2 also mentioned that villagers want money from them or they will block the company's activities in the area. He expressed frustration because the villagers have no ownership of the land where Enercon builds its sites; the company prefers leasing land from state governments because it's cheaper. The company never paid what the villagers wanted; instead, they tried convincing them that they have no claims with the company. Another way of resolving conflicts with villagers was to give them direct and indirect jobs.

The need for keeping the villagers happy was also mentioned by RRB Energy manager: “We must have a good relationship with them or they will stop our cars and tell us that they don’t want our machines there.” Because all three companies mentioned something about “keeping the villagers satisfied” that might suggest that the level of conflict has been higher than what they're willing to admit to.

Responsiveness to stakeholder concerns during the CDM process was essential to giving the entire system input legitimacy. If there is a lack of responsiveness, then participation becomes a mere act legitimizing the prevailing power structures within the system (Lövbrand et al. 2009). Most stakeholders are

consulted after the CDM project has been decided upon or, as in the case of Soda and Akal villages, after the project was fully operational. The villagers of Soda were given an opportunity to express their grievances with the wind power projects. Their complaint about the roads built by the companies was noted, but did not result in any action toward correcting the problem. Lövbrand, et al., question this type of participation: “Hence, although procedural rules are in place for local stakeholder participation, the communities directly affected by CDM projects are likely to have less voice in the CDM project cycle than project developers” (2009:86). The practice of “downstream” inclusion of stakeholders might also derive from the opinion of project developers and the industry itself (represented by Subramanian) that wind power projects will create a win-win situation for all participants. When the villagers expressed dissatisfaction with the way the companies let them take part in the benefits of CDM projects, the companies’ response was, in one case, to pay them off and, in other cases, to give

them short-term employment. Therefore, it is valid to question the input legitimacy of the three CDM projects in the Jaisalmer area.

The CDM projects have been successful for some of the participants. The state of Rajasthan has benefited from the increased electricity generation from wind power plants, and the area of Jaisalmer has experienced a surge of activities in forms of improved infrastructure connected to the construction of these plants.

This means more jobs, but as I've shown in the section on employment and in chapter 5 (on technology) wind power projects require skilled personnel. These are the people getting the long-term jobs. The villagers have benefited to some degree, but the CDM projects have, in the case of Soda, been directly negative for the villagers. Nevertheless, the wind power companies see themselves as a contributor to increased economic growth in the Jaisalmer district, even though their contribution is limited to construction company owners from the city of Jaisalmer. This type of economic growth is not acceptable under the approach of sustainable development where there is a clear understanding of fulfilling the needs of the poor first. Economic growth without the concern for the poorest populations is acceptable under the approach of ecological modernization because it lacks a focus on the social dimension of development.

There is a thin line between the two approaches exemplified by the perception of

“locals” in the case of Soda and Akal villagers. The results of a path of

ecological modernization can be altered towards sustainable development if the three companies would be more conscientious in their employment practices.

This might also increase the input legitimacy of the CDM projects because the developers would show better responsiveness to the stakeholders concerns.

8.4 Summary

Suzlon, Enercon and RRB Energy state that their presence in and around

Jaisalmer, Rajasthan has contributed to sustainable development. Analyzing the different CDM projects according to sustainable development indicators shows

that their contribution has been mostly beneficial for the city of Jaisalmer. The employment practices of the companies during the initial phase has contributed to income generation for the construction industry in the city, while the villagers around the CDM projects feel they have gained little in terms of employment . Wind power requires educated and qualified personnel after construction, and the villagers are not skilled for those jobs. Companies have been attracted to the area due to the state policies and not the CDM. The policies have had a trickle-down effect on job creation, recruitment of educated professionals and development of the energy system. The state policies have been beneficial for the city of

Jaisalmer and neglected the poorest in the area. The CDM has not had any effect on increasing access to electricity for the poorest populations because this is the responsibility of the state government.

The practice of hiring local people is valued by the companies as important and as a way of alleviating poverty. But the companies do not differentiate between villagers they hire. The fieldwork showed that this is perceived as negative by villagers. If the companies were more stringent in their employment practices, there would gain more in terms of perception and acceptance for projects. Even so, there is reason to question if the employment opportunities are a result of the CDM. Informants in the companies explained that villagers are hired on a needs basis, regardless of a project's CDM status.

Project developers and the industry itself are under the impression that wind power projects create a win-win situation for all involved stakeholders.

Interviews conducted with villagers most affected by wind power projects registered as CDM around the city of Jaisalmer shows that the benefits are not equally shared. The projects fail to contribute to sustainable development for the most vulnerable in that area.