Twenty Days Before He Died, Kalam Lit Up Two Villages With Us

1. What the 7 July 2015 dailies printed

By Kunwer Sachdev (Founder & Managing Director, 1988–2018)

On 7 July 2015 Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam came to Fakirpura in Kannauj district and inaugurated a 250 kW off-grid solar mini-grid that Su-Kam had built. Twenty days later, on 27 July, he died. It was one of his last public days. To the best of the public record, it is the first solar mini-grid in India inaugurated by a former President.

Business Standard that day: UPNEDA had commissioned Su-Kam. The plant would electrify Fakirpura and Chanduahar in Tirwa tehsil — villages still off the grid. Cost about ₹6.15 crore, including civil, electrical, mechanical, distribution and household wiring. 450 households, about 2,000 people; 60 LED street lights; commercial shops, two schools, a training centre, a healthcare facility; 15 submersible pumps. I am quoted in that communique: we were bullish on making solar available to urban and rural UP, and we had already put solar lighting into about 40,000 rural households. That 40,000 is Episode 1 — standalone Direct-DC homes. Kannauj is the other architecture: one central plant, village wires, a real local grid.

IANS the same day: Akhilesh Yadav and Kalam together; 3.65 lakh units a year designed. Every household also given two LED bulbs. Kalam, the paper said, batted for more electric rickshaws. Dimple Yadav’s constituency. The inauguration was a state event.

What I will not pretend

I did not meet Dr. Kalam that day. I was in the audience. No handshake. No photograph of the two of us. The Su-Kam team had built the plant. I sat where state events are watched. What I have is what I heard from the dais: he wanted Indian solar to stand without leaning forever on subsidy — cheap enough and well-engineered enough to be the obvious choice. In 2015 that sounded contrarian. The destination he pointed at is the one the industry later travelled.

The work before the ribbon was not mainly electronics. Adjacent villages wanted in. They were not in the tender. We said no. There was pressure. We delivered the villages, the load and the budget the tender named, on the day his calendar had set. Most of the team was behind the dais watching the plant. Nothing went wrong. That is the compliment.

2. Verified contemporaneous media

• Business Standard (7 July 2015): Kalam inaugurates mini solar plant in Dimple Yadav’s constituency — 250 kW off-grid, ₹6.15 crore, 450 households, 60 LED street lights, 15 pumps, Su-Kam / UPNEDA.
• Business Standard / IANS (7 July 2015): Kalam, Akhilesh inaugurate solar power plant — 3.65 lakh units a year; two-village scope.
• EQ Mag Pro / PTI (28 July 2022): Repair solar plant inaugurated by Kalam in Kannauj: Akhilesh to UP govt — later disrepair. I do not know the technical reasons after our role ended, or after 2019. In 2015, when he cut the ribbon, it worked.
• Full founder essay: KunwerSachdev.com

3. Ground record from the 7 July 2015 press

4. Hub

• Full essay — KunwerSachdev.com
• Episode 1 — 40,000 Direct-DC homes (different architecture)
• Episode 7 — Warangal hospital, 10 kW
• Episode 8 — Anantnag hospital, Brainy Eco
• Episode 10 — Punjab 100% solar DC house (standalone kit)
• Recovered archive — Meet India’s Solar Village
• Facebook Archive

Historical Documentation Notice:
This article documents a historical project from the tenure of Kunwer Sachdev as Founder & Managing Director of Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd. (1988–2018). He exited in 2019 under the IBC process and holds no association with Su-Kam or its subsequent management. Figures above follow the 7 July 2015 Business Standard / IANS cuttings and the founder essay on KunwerSachdev.com. Later plant condition after 2019 is not claimed as Su-Kam operating record.