Summit, Friendship to develop solar village in Gaibandha

As part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Summit, the largest infrastructure conglomerate of Bangladesh, has committed joint development of the 'Friendship-Summit Solar Village Project' ("Solar Village") with Friendship, an international social purpose organisation with a focus on climate change adaptation, in hard-to-reach Char area of Gaibandha district.
When functional in February 2023, it will be generating 54 Kilowatt (KW) benefiting 205 ultra-poor households, a local market consisting of 26 shops, four primary schools, one Madrasa and Friendship's Legal Information Booth, which are presently off-grid. Summit pledges about Tk 15 million (1.5 Crore) for development of solar village including lease of 61 decimals of land, solar panel installation, related logistics and maintenance in Kabilpur Char area till 2026.
Latif Khan, Vice-Chairman of Summit Group of Companies, remarked, "At Summit, we are strategically looking into green energy. As part of CSR we are initiating this solar village with Friendship. In parallel, we are also studying utility scale viability of solar and wind power generation in Bangladesh."
Runa Khan, Founder and Executive Director of Friendship said, "Anyone who has seen the mighty River Jamuna in spate, will understand that grids are really not possible here. On the other hand, this solar grid will provide income generating livelihoods and opportunities for children's education."