Biography
Paras is the founder of the Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE), a social impact enterprise, that provides clean energy and livelihood access to the remote Himalayan communities.
Over the last 8 years, Paras has led several leadership expeditions to Himalayas (India) to set up solar microgrids for the remote off-grid communities that are thriving for centuries without access to any kind of basic electricity. His initiative GHE has been instrumental in electrifying 110 remote Himalayan villages and impacting over 55000 lives. In the process, GHE has also created livelihood generation for more than 140 village-level women entrepreneurs that run traveler homestays in these solar electrified villages to promote community-based tourism.
An engineer by profession, Paras merges technology and passion with an approach to entrepreneurial models in these high-altitude areas advocating use of sustainable tourism solutions that would eventually provide stimulus to local economy, reducing local emigration and preserving age-old cultural Himalayan heritage.
For GHE’s work in impact and sustainable tourism, GHE has been recognized by the World Economic Forum, Davos as well as the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). GHE has also been awarded by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and their work has been highlighted by BBC and National Geographic as one of the “Breakthrough technologies” in the present world.