The desert in India might seem an unlikely property hot spot, but its unusually high temperatures have made it exactly that.
Much like the temperatures in the region, so property prices have soared recently. In fact it is the sun that has driven prices upwards, because India is in need of more energy sources and the heat of the Thar desert has been seen as one place where solar power can be harnessed.
Dr PC Pande of Rajasthan’s Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) told BBC News: “Here in this region we have plenty of solar radiation. It’s full of sun. 300 plus days of sun a year, nine hours a day.”
Thus it is that 200,000 square kilometres of dry, dusty Thar desert in north-west India has suddenly become a property hotbed.
Recently the Indian government launched a $19 billion National Solar Mission, designed to generate up to 20,000 megawatts of solar electricity by 2022. In 2010 solar power accounts for only 1 per cent of India’s power supply.
However, it is not only the sun that has been attracting investors to the region. In addition, there is the land itself.
Multan Parihar of Raj Landscape estate agents said that there was a lot of government and private land available. Big power projects are after such land, and prices have trebled in some parts of the Thar desert in the last six months. “People don’t do much agriculture here, it’s a waste land. But it can be used for solar power,” said Mr Parihar.
With India still pushing forward on strong economic growth, the need for energy will certainly not diminish.
Successful industrialist Hari Bhartia has interests in pharmaceuticals, energy and retail. “Manufacturing is directly related to energy,” he said. “I don’t think you can build a manufacturing industry unless you have a stable energy supply. Energy is part of economic growth.”
