Ratnakar’s mini turbines are changing lives of many people
G.K. Ratnakar of Jayapura in Chikmagalur district never attended college. However, today, many engineering students look up to him to gain knowledge on generating hydropower from mini turbines.
For 17 years, he has been lighting up the lives of people in remote villages where the Government could not provide electricity. Last month, five families of Malekudiya tribe at Pulittady, inside Kudremukh National Park, got electricity, thanks to Mr. Ratnakar’s 5-kilowatt (kW) turbine. The turbine set up in the Maoist-affected area in Belthangady taluk was his 311 mini hydel project.
He set up his first turbine at his home in 1995. He said that he spent the next two years in research and development and began taking up other projects from 1997.
Mr. Ratnakar, 54, told The Hindu that he has orders for setting up 12 more projects in the country, including supplying hydel power to streetlights in some villages in Sholapur taluk in Maharashtra. Another project was to supply power to a resort at Anegundi in Gangavathi taluk in Koppal district, by a stream that formed a three-foot high waterfall. It would be a 5 kW power project, he said.
Mr. Ratnakar, who studied up to class 10, said one more project would be at Bhagawathi Nature Camp inside Kudremukh National Park.
Of the 311 turbines set up by him, 251 were in Karnataka and the rest were in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Mr. Ratnakar said that his turbines had been set up in Tuni area, East Godavari district, in Andhra Pradesh.
He said that a 1-kW capacity project cost Rs. 50,000; a 2 -kW project, Rs. 60,000; and 3-kW project, Rs. 75,000.
The then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presented him with an award at Rashtrapati Bhavan on December 17, 2002, for his innovation in modified hydel electricity turbine. The award was instituted by the National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad.
Mr. Ratnakar said that the Western Ghats had potential for setting up many mini turbines. He said that power could be produced using waste water in cities, and that power could be used for streetlights in cities and towns. “I will take up such a project,” he said.
Unlike major hydel projects, mini turbine projects does not harm environment, he said. Mr. Ratnakar said that due to poverty he could not get the Government’s power connection at his home. Compulsion and inevitability of power forced him to try and produce power from water. “I could not continue education due to poverty,” he said.
Asked if he would have been an “innovator” provided he got formal education in a college, he replied: “Probably not. I would have been in some clerical job.”
Mr. Ratnakar efforts drive home several important points.
- Renewables such as hydro, solar & wind have an important role to play in
addressing India's chronic power shortages and need to be given more importance
by planners. Indeed, during the massive power outages earlier the village of
Meerwada in MP, which had an off grid solar facility was not impacted
- Decentralisation of generation: An important drawback in the current set up is
losses due to theft, poor network capacity & quality. Decentralisation addresses
these shortages.
Hats off to Mr. Ratnakar !
Mr. Ratnakar drives home several important points.
- Renewables such as hydro, solar & wind have an important role to play in
addressing India's power needs and need to be given more importance by
planners. Indeed, during the massive power outages earlier the village of
Meerwada in MP which had an off grid solar facility was not impacted
- Decentralisation of generation: An important drawback in the current set up is
losses due to theft, poor network capacity & quality. Decentralisation addresses
these shortages.
Hats off to Mr. Ratnakar !
sir hats off to you. great work. keep it up.
The unsung common man has this uncanny flair to light up lives of the needy. 'The Hindu' does as usual in unearthing !
Thanks Hindu for publishing such inspiring article about Ratnakar Ji. Now a days media gives importance to Film Personalities, Cricketers etc..
So many talented, dedicated and creative people like Ratnakar Ji are there in India unfortunately we don't know and don't encourage such people.
Great Job.
People like you give us hope, hope that one day we will live in a better world. Thanks to Mr. Ratnakar and Thanks to The Hindu for bringing stories like these to the front page. It will be great if The Hindu write more articles showing such inspirational stories, encouraging other people to do good work.
Great reporting by Hindu, the newspaper. As asked by another person, does Mr.Ratnakar offer engineering details for others to set up 'Home' turbines, of course, for a fee?
Even in this 'advanced' country, last October 29th, we had a storm and the whole town lost power for 9 days. We nearly froze at nights.
Help to set up home models, using tap water with an elevation to turn the turbine would have helped.
Thanks
8.7.12
Cost estimations for mini hydel projects is very promising. Would like
to know other requirements like how much water, minimum height,
maintenance cost etc. When he can do it why can't other engineering
students can't do that? Can he share his procedure with others. Or can
he train other people to do this kind of job? At least can we get his
contact information.
Mr. Ratnakar must thank God for the poverty during his younger days, for we wouldn't have gotten a prodigy. Good luck for future endeavours.
hats off to this man...
Can't this Polical CLASS people, find time? and what about our Bureau Crats are doing? They will offer millions for MNCs for similar projects, for them to throw the bones.
It is cruel, for keeping these type of People in Power!!
You know NOW, why Abdul Kalam is a Great People Presedient!!
Inspite, of his efforts, why cant the Govt make use of such Genuis??
I find that Tamil Nadu is yet to utilise GTR's expertise. This may be useful in the hilly regions near Ooty, I believe. Will the Govt officials or private estate owners take notice of this development.
Great work. Thanks Raviprasad Kamila for an excellent brief about
G.K.Ratnakar. I will be grateful if you could provide his contact
address as it would be useful for me to help the poor and needy through
Ratnakar's innovation. Ratnakar is an example of a functional literate.
there must be genuine efforts to discover such geniuses. they would form the changers of indian landscape to paradise. unfortunately their talents go untapped in the midst of nepotism and political jugglery. media can provide a very important role of high lighting the contributions and virtues of such men /women so hat the powers that be will be constrained to take cognizance of them for the benefit of all.
kudos to MR. RATNAKAR for his service of lightening the lives of villagers, without waiting for official patronage. let his ilk grow in numbers throughout india for the good of india and indians.
Great work Mr.Ratnakar, I appreciate your R&D efforts. EEE students should learn from him and try to reslove the electricity problem in India, instead of working for some software firm. Many students work hard while they do engineering and end up in some software company. I have humble request to engineering students(EEE,ECE,MECH,CIVIL,CHEM), please start your own firm or try to do something which doesn't exist in India, if you can afford to do it.
Jaihind
He is the hero.
Great work by Ratnagar! I would like to know, where the mini turbine is located in the Tuni area, East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. I am near to that place, so would like to visit. Could you plz pass this message to Mr.Ratnakar!
People like him are real heroes of the society, not the cine-stars and politicians.
Great work by Mr.Ratnakar.
Good job by The Hindu.
India need Responsible Citizens like you :)
Jai Hind
Great job done by him.
In most of the villages in UP even those just a few km from Lucknow do
not have electricity,just poles and lines.
But there is no potential for hydro.Only solar PV.
Fantastic story, and congratulations to Ratnakar for his work. One man can do what a million bureaucrats and politicians cannot.
Great Work Mr. Ratnakar! you are a idol for the peoples who want to work
for the rural development. there should be more educated person dedicate
there life for such cause.
I liked the last reply "I would have been in some clerical job". Its so true ..
Asked if he would have been an “innovator” provided he got formal education in a college, he replied: “Probably not. I would have been in some clerical job.”
PERFECTLY ANSWERED!!!!!!
Thankyou & congrats Mr. Ratnakar for introducing mini turbine projects which are environment friendly.
Government will do nothing & expecting from government will lead to frustration....
You are a good example for the phrase "BE THE CHANGE WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE IN THIS WORLD" by starting the work from your own place.
I guess there is a chance for India to develop as long as people like you are there. On the other hand, it is tough for India to develop as long as (so called educated)people like me & others that are present just commenting and criticising on all the articles instead of getting down directly in the field and helping the people.
Congrats to Mr. Ratnakar! He is a true hero!
Dear Hindu, could you please provide the contact details of this innovator.
Good article. Could Hindu give more details about this with picture of the generator. Necessity is the mother of innovation. This innovator proved that.
Congrats to Mr.G.K. Ratnakar. By reading this write-up, people who do not have access to college education leading to various higher level degrees can get inspired to start inventing/designing useful things to fulfill various requirements [for people residing in remote areas/villages] like power, clean water and other things. Our Govt. should recognize such people and encourage and give them funds to implement the same. People like Mr. Ratnakar should be invited by various academic institutions to demonstrate his designs/achievements.
Great job by Mr. Ratnakar.Govt. as well as local Panchayaths should utilize the services of Ratnakar for providing electricity facilities
in all remote areas.
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