Messy energy equations across the world cast cloud on solar alliance

The India-led global solar-power grouping is struggling to gain legitimacy in the fraught world of energy politics

There is a list of 300-odd projects on the table from 35 countries for the officers of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to wade through on a warm May afternoon. “It should take us about three hours at least,” says Upendra Tripathy, the interim Director General of the energy organisation with its headquarters at Gurugram, Haryana, as he disappears into the meeting.

Each country has proposed a raft of solar projects on their soil, to be set up under the aegis of the ISA. Niger, for instance, has endearingly demanded what it calls “electrification kits” for lighting up entire