Arun Kumar

Dr. Arun Kumar is President Emeritus of Development Alternatives and has extensive experience in the areas of Design Technology, Systems Engineering, Business Development and Research Organization. Since 1989 he has been responsible for the innovation and development of technology systems necessary for the large-scale creation of sustainable livelihoods. He was responsible for the development of technology packages in the area of decentralized energy production, cleaner production technologies, biomass and other livelihood utilization technologies.
The Cleaner Production packages consist of technologies for the production of handmade recycled paper, the decentralized production of electricity. Over the past 12 years of work at Development Alternatives, field trials and economically viable packages have been developed for paper recycling, the production of fired brick and cement-based roofing products. Technology packages that are available for businesses and commercial micro-enterprises include Tara Handmade Paper Production Technology and the Brick Kiln Vertical Axis Technology. Under his direction the first energy system based on DESI Biomass Energy was installed and he commissioned TARAgram, Orchha.

Dr. Arun Kumar has been engaged in an active dialogue with the largest cement companies and the Cement Manufacturers Association of India to integrate skills development at the national level as part of their corporate social responsibility. A publication “Cement in the Service of the Nation” on behalf of the Cement Manufacturers Association was compiled under his leadership.

Dr. Arun Kumar has been actively involved in planning for the large-scale dissemination of cleaner technologies required under the International Protocols. He has been leading an initiative for research on sustainable regional development issues. During the course of research work on structural transformation processes, he authored a pioneering study on Spiralling the decline of resources – its impact on livelihood systems. His group is involved in the design of products and marketing systems for large-scale delivery in rural markets. In this endeavour, the DA Group has successfully collaborated with large corporations and is planning to expand these initiatives. A pioneering network initiative from Waste to Wealth from Building Materials to SMEs has been launched and expansion to national and international markets is underway with investments from leading social venture funds.