Zoroastrians were behind the electrification of Navsari and Dahanu towns
Farrokh Jijina
With a population of 20,000 did the south Gujarat town of Navsari need electricity at all in the early years of the 20th century? The recent failure of the gas company there and a dull capital market would have deterred most. But chartered electrical engineer Ardeshir Modi proceeded to set up The Navsari Electric Supply Company Limited in 1921. While in the coastal town of Dahanu, now in northwest Maharashtra, agriculturist Merwan Irani "purchased two 300 hp engines and one 900 hp Skoda engine in 1952 to generate electricity,” notes Dahanu resident Farzan Mazda about his paternal great-grandfather.
The company......