In March 2019, The Times of India reported on a pilot unit built by IIT Madras at Kanyakumari, described as India's first desalination plant running entirely on solar energy. Located near the Vivekananda Memorial on 120 m², it produced 10,000 litres of freshwater daily, or 10 m³/day. Solar collectors heated seawater to above 70 °C before a small share flashed to vapour in a vacuum chamber. Funding of Rs 1.22 crore came from the Ministry of Earth Sciences, while NIOT gave technical support.
The report showed thermal solar desalination at pilot scale. The researchers themselves named the land taken up by photovoltaic panels as an obstacle to plants of 10 or 100 million litres a day.
Source: The Times of India