Essar Power Ltd.

You have to drive about 27 kilometers out on the Surat Hajira Road to find us. Essar Power Ltd. is a big site, and it feels pretty far removed from the main city noise. Instead, we have the constant roar of the plant. It’s a massive place with pipes running everywhere and tall chimneys that you can see from a long way off. We work in shifts here, so there is always someone coming or going at the main gate. The air has a bit of a salty tang because we are so close to the coast at Hazira. We wear hard hats and heavy boots all day, which gets tiring when you’re walking up and down the steel stairs. Our offices are just basic rooms with white walls and a lot of clipboards hanging up. We don’t do much talking that isn't about the pressure levels or the fuel supply. The canteen is where most of us catch up, usually over a plate of dal and rice. It’s an industrial life, really. There’s no soft music playing or plants in the lobby. Everything here is built for a purpose, and that purpose is keeping the lights on. Sometimes we have to work through the night when there is a big maintenance job to do. You get used to the flickering lights and the smell of hot metal. It’s just how things are out here at the plant.