About Us

Development Alternatives (DA), the world's first social enterprise dedicated to sustainable development, is a research and action organisation striving to deliver socially equitable, environmentally sound and economically scalable development outcomes. Our green technology innovations for habitat, water, energy and waste management, which deliver basic needs and generate sustainable livelihoods, have reduced poverty and rejuvenated natural ecosystems in the most backward regions of India.

Governing Council

The Governing Council is primarily responsible for an overall policy formulation and ensuring statutory compliance. They bring to the organisation systems thinking, institutional development, planning and management, legal and financial, gender and social issues, natural resources and environment, social enterprise and business expertise and experience.

Dr. Ashok Khosla
Dr. Ashok Khosla
Chairman
Dr. Ashok Khosla
Chairman, Development Alternatives
For nearly five decades, Dr Ashok Khosla has been a pioneer in finding paths for development whose benefits reach everyone and can be sustained by the Earth’s resources. He has been Co-Chair of the UN’s International Resource Panel, President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and President of the Club of Rome. He was a member of the Government of India’s National Security Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Council to the Cabinet. For his contribution, he was awarded the OBE by the UK Government, the UN Sasakawa Environment Prize, and the Zayed International Environment Prize, among others.
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Lalit Mansingh
Lalit Mansingh
Member
Lalit Mansingh
Former Foreign Secretary, International Relations
A former Indian Diplomat, Mansingh has more than 40 years of extensive international experience across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He is also a former foreign secretary. He has served as the Indian Ambassador to the United States and the United Arab Emirates and as India’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom and Nigeria. Mansingh has dedicated his career to promoting India and its role in the global marketplace. He is also the chairman of Kalinga International Foundation, a national think tank focusing on India’s relations with Indo-Pacific.
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Ravinder Kaur
Ravinder Kaur
Member
Ravinder Kaur
Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
She serves as a Professor of Sociology and Social Anthropology in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Her core specialisation includes Sociological Theory (Classical and Contemporary), Sociology of Gender, Development, Urban Social Systems, Technology and Society, Kinship, Family, and Marriage studies. She has also worked as a consultant for various national and international organisations such as the World Bank, UNDP, and UNFPA.
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Amitabh Kundu
Amitabh Kundu
Member
Amitabh Kundu
Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Distinguished Fellow at Research and Information System for Developing Countries, he chairs the Standing Committee for the National Survey for the Swatch Bharat Mission at the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. He has chaired Committees on Housing Start up Index at RBI and Committee to Estimate Shortage of Affordable Housing, and Post Sachar Evaluation Committee, Govt of India. He has been Regional Advisor on Poverty at the UN, Professor and Dean at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a member of National Statistical Commission, Govt of India. He was the Director at the National Institute of Urban Affairs, Indian Council of Social Science Research, and Gujarat Institute of Development Research.
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Gita Siddhartha
Gita Siddhartha
Member
Gita Siddhartha
Former Chairperson, Indian Council for Child Welfare
As President and Secretary General of the Indian Council for Child Welfare for nearly 30 years, she has implemented programmes that cover a gamut of concerns in every state of India. She has overseen and promoted programmes covering street and working children, child labour, children of sex workers, malnutrition, among others. She has played a pivotal role in advocating for the rights of children and articulated plans for their welfare and development.
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Arun Kumar Sahni
Arun Kumar Sahni
Member
Arun Kumar Sahni
Former General Officer Commanding in Chief, Indian Army
A second generation and decorated soldier, he was superannuated as Commander in Chief of an Army Command on India’s Western borders. He was a recipient of the Sword of Honour and President’s Gold Medal on commissioning, for standing first in order of merit. Over a career spanning 40 years, he has served in most of the active and challenging operational environments in India and abroad. Presently ‘pro bono’, he is mentoring startups in the domain of cyber, robotics, and AI and steers an environmental policy group, COR – India. He is a Distinguished Fellow with two premier ‘think tanks’ in Delhi, the USI and CLAWS and on the Board of Governors of the prestigious ‘India Foundation’.
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Shrashtant Patara
Shrashtant Patara
Member
Shrashtant Patara
Chief Executive, Development Alternatives
Shrashtant Patara is an architect by training. He has been with the Development Alternatives Group since 1988, providing research expertise, management capability, and strategic direction to teams working in the areas of Entrepreneurship Support Systems, Habitat, Renewable Energy and Waste-to-Wealth initiatives. His current work is focussed on systems change, social innovation, and entrepreneurship, resulting in the co-creation of multi-stakeholder-based service delivery models that promote sustainability through local economic development, regeneration of the environment, and greater social equity. He is the Project Advisor for the Women-Led Entrepreneurship Programme with a focus on curating and leading initiatives aimed at creating triple bottom line benefits in rural areas of India. These include inclusive and green entrepreneurship initiatives such as the Work4Progress programme funded by “laCaixa” Foundation, Accelerating Entrepreneurship through Social Innovation with SBI Foundation. Others include HSBC supported “Entrepreneurship for Empowerment” and “Energy Transitions for Economic Empowerment” program and Rockefeller Foundation supported “Smart Power for Rural Development” program. Shrashtant Patara is a Fellow of The Rockefeller Foundation’s Global Programme on Social Innovation and has completed a programme on Leadership for System Change conducted by Harvard Kennedy School in conjunction with the Schwab Foundation. He has been instrumental in the establishment of several social businesses within the Development Alternatives Group and currently leads the team that is incubating ‘TARAurja’, a renewable energy-based micro-utility business and the Indian Micro Enterprises Development Foundation.
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Our Team

Shrashtant Patara
Shrashtant Patara
Chief Executive, Development Alternatives
Maj Gen Rahul Bhardwaj
Maj Gen Rahul Bhardwaj
Chief Advisor, Group Head, Development Alternatives Group
Kanika Verma
Kanika Verma
Executive Vice President, Development Alternatives Group
Dr. Soumen Maity
Dr. Soumen Maity
Executive VP, Group Head, Development Alternatives Group
Shaila Sam
Shaila Sam
Head of Impact and Communication & Associate Vice President, Development Alternatives Group
Prince Soni
Prince Soni
Advisor-Director, Finance and Strategic Initiatives, Development Alternatives Group
Navniit Siingh Chatwal
Navniit Siingh Chatwal
Associate Vice President and Regional Director – Bundelkhand, Development Alternatives Group

Annual Reports

Development Alternatives

Our Mission

To create models that generate sustainable livelihoods in large numbers

Our Vision

A world where every citizen can live a secure, healthy and fulfilling life, in harmony with nature

Our History


  1. 1982

    Born

    The Development Alternatives Group was the first social enterprise setup to create and deliver sustainable solutions for social and economic development.

    Established in 1982, the Development Alternatives Group pioneered the concept of business-like approaches for eradicating poverty and conserving the natural resource base on which human development depends.

    1984

    TARA Balram Mud Block Press launched

    The TARA Balram Mudblock Press addresses the problem of families in India who cannot afford steel and cement for their houses. It compresses ordinary earth into solid building bricks that need no firing.

    1986

    Tara Chulha 101 launched

    A clean, efficient and safe metal cook stove. TARA has introduced its range of fuel-efficient and smoke-reducing Chulhas for rural India.

    1987

    First 100% Earth-based urban building - DA Headquarters

    Earth is the oldest building material to be used by man. The design for the Development Alternatives headquarters arises out of an organisational desire to make a strong statement in earth architecture.

    1989

    Tara loom enters market

    TARA loom - the breakthrough innovation in the field of handloom technology. It makes it possible for untrained men and women to produce high-quality handloom textiles that are commercially sustainable.



  2. 1991

    Became founding member of Climate Action Network South Asia

    DA, with about 250 civil society organisations, formed CANSA. CANSA works in 8 South Asian countries on climate action.



  3. 2001

    PACS - largest civil society support programme implemented

    Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) programme focused on building capacities of civil society organisations to enable rural communities from the most backward regions of India to access their rights and entitlements.



  4. 2007

    New DA green headquarter

    The Development Alternatives World Headquarters in New Delhi, reconstructed in 2007, is one of the first buildings in India that aims at zero emissions.



  5. 2015

    TARA Urja - mini-grids in UP and Bihar launched

    Established in 2015, TARAurja is an operational business unit for deploying renewable energy-based mini-grids enabling communities to adopt solar and biomass solutions.



  6. 2024

    MoU with Promac

    TARA signed an MoU with Promac Engineering to create LC3 Green Cement, promoting low-carbon emissions and a greener environment.


Compliance

Development Alternatives was set up in 1982. The Society for Development Alternatives is registered as a not-for-profit society under the Society Registration Act. XXI of 1860 (Reg. No. 12964). Also, it is registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA Reg. No. 231650202).