Mr Angus McCrone has overall editing responsibility for BNEF’s research on clean energy and transport, working closely with BNEF’s 120-strong team of analysts. He writes about energy investment trends, project finance, and early-stage technologies. Before joining New Energy Finance in 2007, Mr McCrone was a financial journalist for UK national newspapers for 18 years. He also worked as senior economist for a leading London-based think tank, and founded an FSA-authorised financial services firm. Mr McCrone has a MSc Economic History, London School of Economics, MA Economics and Modern History, St Andrews University and Certificate of Investment Management

Dr. Anshu Bharadwaj is the Executive Director at Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), a non-profit Think Tank based in Bangalore and Delhi. He has helped develop CSTEP’s research programs in various domains. His research interests are in technology and policy options for India’s clean energy sector. He also works in emerging AI technologies for impacting human development. Prior to joining CSTEP, he was a member of the Indian Administrative Services, 1992 batch - Karnataka cadre and has worked in various capacities. Anshu is a graduate of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in Mechanical Engineering and post graduate of Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. He did his PhD and post-doctoral from Carnegie Mellon University, in energy engineering and economics.

Dr. Arun Kumar serves as the MNRE Chair Professor (renewable energy) and Professor of AHEC, IIT Roorkee. Dr. Kumar served as the Head of Alternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC), IIT Roorkee from 1998 to 2011. He has over 34 years of experience in the field of Hydro Power Development. He served as Coordinating Lead author for Hydropower on Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change– working group III during 2009–11.

Mrs Arundhati Bhattacharya was first ever Women Chairperson of State Bank of India, a Fortune 500 company and served as the Chairperson till she retired in October 2017 She has expertise & deep understanding and insights of Financial services, particularly of Banking industry and related areas of Digital Banking. Under her leadership SBI metamorphosed into a digitally advanced Bank while continuing to play a pivotal role in national development, as SBI commands almost 25% of banking market share. SBI was adjudged as one of Three Best Places to work in India, by Global Job site based on 15 million reviews surveyed on the basis of overall employees experience under Mrs Bhattacharya's leadership. She was awarded Forbes Magazine ranked her 25th in their List of Most Powerful Women in the world and 5th in Most Powerful Women in Finance and was also included in the Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2014 by Foreign Policy Magazine. Mrs Bhattacharya was featured in Fortune List of Top 50 Globally Most Powerful Women in business and Ranked among Top 5 in the Asia Pacific region. She is associated with various institutions and initiatives for empowering the challenged and differently able, with an aim of integrating them in society.

Mr Ashish Khanna is the President – Renewables, Tata Power and also MD & CEO of Tata Power Solar – the largest integrated solar company in India. He joined Tata Power in 2007. Ashish has over 30 years of cumulative experience with focus on project management and contracts in both India and abroad. Under his leadership, Tata Power Solar emerged as no.1 rooftop player in the industry. He has been instrumental in streamlining the business for increased efficiency and profitability by focusing on building state-of-the-art technology, engineering and strengthening customer and employee satisfaction. His relentless pursuit of excellence has helped Tata Power Solar build strong competencies leveraging technology and innovation. Tata Power Solar has more than doubled its revenue under the visionary leadership of Mr Khanna and during this period the company has commissioned several challenging and industry landmark projects. Besides being an Engineering graduate, Ashish holds a Master’s Degree in Management & Systems from IIT Delhi.

Dr Ashok Haldia, Managing Director & CEO, PTC India Financial Services Limited (PFS) an Infrastructure Finance Company - a leading Financial Institution in renewable power projects. He is a Chartered Accountant, Management Accountant, and, a Company Secretary. He has wide experience in the power sector, policy and reforms, infrastructure financing, public sector reform and policy, corporate governance, regulation, mobilization of funds, and, formulation of accounting standards. He was/is members of the committee(s) of trade and industry associations, professional bodies, government, and other national and international bodies.

A.B. Giri is qualified in mechanical engineering and business management; he has over 45 years of experience in technical, general management and business leadership positions, across various industries.

His entry into hydropower was a result of his work manufacturing and marketing graphite products for the competitive global market. The technology and processes required for manufacturing graphite led him to search for sources of electricity that were stable in both price and supply.

His efforts to develop a competitive and reliable power supply led him to look at hydropower differently, resulting in a strategic integration of the financing, engineering and execution of hydropower projects. The result was three hydro power projects executed under his leadership in much shorter periods than is considered normal and with a far smaller budget. These include the 16 MW Tawa Project, 86 MW Malana-I and 303 MW Maneri Bhali-II projects, besides many others which have been developed for subsequent execution in this mode.

Present Occupation – Designation – work areas: Actively looking at new offshore wind markets and opportunities in Asia-Pacific Region including India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Other work experiences: Working for Innogy/RWE for 13 years mainly as Project Manager responsible for M&A projects covering offshore wind, onshore wind, and hydro technologies. Prior to this, I had 10 years experience in various consulting roles within the UK and international energy sector.

Mr Bruce Hogg is the Head of the recently-established Power & Renewables (P&R) team at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). CPPIB is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to pay current benefits on behalf of 20 million contributors and beneficiaries.  Bruce's mandate is to build a diversified global portfolio of value-add power and renewables investments, taking advantage of growing market opportunities as the energy sector transitions and global power demand grows, especially for low-carbon energy alternatives.  Since its establishment in late 2017, the group has invested approximately C$2.8 billion in three transactions across North America, South America and Europe.

Most recently, Bruce was Managing Director, Head of Americas for Infrastructure where he was responsible for teams in Toronto, Sao Paulo and Sydney.  Prior to joining the CPP Investment Board in October 2007, Bruce led the private markets infrastructure team at OPTrust.  Previously, he spent a number of years working with Macquarie Bank in London and Toronto in corporate finance after having worked in investment banking at RBC Dominion Securities.

Bruce holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Toronto.

Bruce Douglas has been working in renewable energy for 20 years. He is currently the Deputy CEO of SolarPower Europe, a member-led association based in Brussels representing over 200 organizations active along the whole solar value chain.

He is also the coordinator of the RE-Source Platform – the European alliance for corporate sourcing of renewable energy – and the Co-Chairman of the Global Solar Council (GSC), the representative body for the entire global solar PV sector at an international level, representing over 2000 solar companies around the world.

Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer at WindEurope for 10 years, founding Secretary General of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Managing Director of FLiDAR, an offshore wind company. 

He has a Master degree in renewable energy systems technology and is fluent in English and French.

Dr Laxmi Narasimhan, C S, is a Technology Leader and is currently serving as IH2 Technology Advocacy Lead in Shell India Markets Private Limited and is supporting commercialization of IH2® Technology which can convert any Biomass into directly drop-in Hydrocarbon fuels. He has served as General Manager, Centre of Novel Catalytic Materials & Research Director for CRI Biofuels at Shell Technology Centre Bangalore and was managing the R&D and Technical Service activities here. During his tenure in Shell he was instrumental in and contributed significantly to the development and derisking of IH2® Technology, which is a game-changing technology to convert waste biomass into drop-in hydrocarbon fuels. He led various technology teams and delivered innovative technologies and helped in their commercialization. He has passion for inspirational R&D leadership. He has over 30 years of Research, Development, and Technology applications experience primarily in the area of Refining. Before joining Shell in 2006 he served as Head, Technology Centre for British Oxygen and before that he was Manager, Hydroprocessing R&D at Corporate R&D of Indian Oil Corporation Limited for 17 years.

Mr Charles Yates is a specialist in renewable energy with a passion for delivering projects which are commercial and serve the public good.  As Managing Director of CmY consultants, he is supporting the bid by Inogy for the first Indian offshore wind project, coordinated the financial close of the $265m transmission link for the Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind-farm and worked with the Governments of Taiwan and India on their offshore wind programmes. At accountants Grant Thornton, he led a team working on renewable energy transactions and regulation including advising Ofgem on the procurement of more than $1.8 billion of transmission links from four offshore wind farms.  For thirteen years before this, he was an investment banker with Nomura International Plc including as a member of the Principal Finance Group, which acquired businesses with a total value of $21 billion.  He has a track record of working effectively at board level and with senior civil servants. Mr Yates has an M Phil in Economics, Oxford University, and B.Sc. (1st Class Honours) Economics & Accountancy, University of Bristol. 

Dr Charles Donovan is the Director of the Centre for Climate Finance and Investment at Imperial College London.  He is concurrently Principal Teaching Fellow at Imperial College Business School and a Corporate Fellow at the Grantham Institute - Climate Change and Environment. In his corporate career, he was most recently Head of Structuring and Valuation for Alternative Energy at BP plc.  Dr Donovan was an Energy Policy Analyst with the United States Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton Administration and worked in principal investments at the Enron Corporation.  He holds a bachelor degree from the University of Washington, an MBA from Vanderbilt University, and a doctorate in management from IE Business School. Dr Donovan is the editor and co-author of Renewable Energy Finance: Powering the Future.

Dr Chetan Singh Solanki is currently professor in Department of Energy Science and Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB), India. He is an expert crystalline Si technology, Si-nanostructures (including quantum dots), thin film Si solar cells, PV concentrator systems and carbon nanotubes. He received his PhD degree from the specialist silicon laboratory, IMEC (Inter-university Micro-electronics Center, Ketholik University, Leuven, Belgium). He has worked on several sponsored projects by government as well as companies. The projects are focused on crystalline Si solar cells both wafer-based as well as thin film nanomaterials based. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has sponsored a project titled as National Center for Photovoltaic Research and Education (NCPRE) of worth 47.5 Cr, where he is one of the Principle Investigators. Dr Solanki has recently incubated a solar company names kWatt Solutions Pvt at IIT Bombay incubation center, Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The company focuses on economizing renewable to make it affordable.

CEO and Founder of Leviathan Energy group, which has renewable energy innovations in small, medium, and large wind, in-pipe hydro, run of river hydro, and waves. He has previously served as the CEO of UniversityOfBusiness, an e-learning company.

Dr Dave Renne work focuses on solar and wind technologies and resources for clients such as World Bank, Asia Development Bank, International Renewable Energy Agency, private companies, Previously, Dr Renne worked at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (1991-2012) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (1975-1991) where his focus was on solar and wind energy resources, international programs, environmental studies. He is a Member of International Solar Energy Society, American Solar Energy Society (ASES) and American Meteorological Society and has over 100 publications; numerous public presentations. Dr Renne is also a recipient of Charles Greeley Abbott Award from ASES. Dr Renne has done a MS and PhD from Colorado State University, BA from Kalamazoo College

Mr Parkin joined CLP as the Group’s Chief Operating Officer in September 2015.  He is responsible for the Group’s operations, engineering, construction and fuel procurement.  He also leads CLP’s occupational health, safety, security and environment function.

Mr Parkin has over 30 years of engineering and business management experience across Europe, Russia, Asia and South America.  Prior to joining CLP, Mr Parkin was the Chief Operating Officer/Chief Executive Officer of UK Coal and served on the executive board of power and gas giant E.ON UK for more than five years before being appointed as the Managing Director of New Build and Technology of E.ON.

Earlier in his career, Mr Parkin worked in the construction industry with a FTSE 100 company and worked on a number of major infrastructure projects worldwide, including the construction of the Hong Kong International Airport, the Channel Tunnel and Heathrow Terminal 5.

Dr D Yogi Goswami is a Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Clean Energy Research Center at the University of South Florida. Professor Goswami is the Editor-in-Chief of the Solar Energy journal, and Progress in Solar Energy. He has published 21 books and more than 350 refereed technical papers. He also holds 22 patents, some of which have been successfully commercialized. Dr. Goswami has developed successful industrial ventures based on his inventions and other innovations and has served on the boards of many companies.

Prof Goswami has served as President of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), a Governor of ASME-International, and President of the International Association for Solar Energy Education (IASEE).

Dr Goswami is a recipient of the highest awards of many professional societies related to solar energy including the Farrington Daniels Award from ISES, Frank Kreith Energy award and medal from ASME, John Yellott Award for Solar Energy from ASME, the Charles Greely Abbott award and Hoyt Clark Hottel award of the ASES and the Karl Boer award and medal from the University of Delaware.

Dr Goswami has been inducted in the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame. Most recently, his invention of Photo-electrochemical oxidation (PECO) technology for air purification, which is commercially available as Molekule, was picked as one of the 25 best inventions by Time magazine.

As Deputy, Doug Arent supports integrating the Scientific Computing and Energy Analysis (SCEA) directorate’s cross-cutting technical capabilities and will bolster the strategic positioning and growth of the entire laboratory.

Arent is Sr. Visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, serves on the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Steering Committee on Social Science and the Alternative Energy Future, is a member of the National Research Council Committee to Advise to U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), and is a Member of the Keystone Energy Board. Arent is the Editor in Chief for Renewable Energy Focus and is Associate Editor for the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Arent serves on the World Economic Forum Future of Electricity Working Group and is a member of the International Advisory Board for the journal Energy Policy and for Energy Academy Europe.

His research interests are centered in energy and sustainability, where he has been active for more than 30 years. He has published extensively on topics of clean energy, renewable energy, power systems, natural gas, and the intersection of science and public policy. Arent has a Ph.D. from Princeton University, an MBA from Regis University, and a Bachelor's of Science from Harvey Mudd College in California.

Mr Douglass Sims is Director of the Natural Resource Defense Council's (NRDC) Center for Market Innovation, where he leads a team that provides analysis, advocacy and thought leadership on innovative financing for low carbon and climate resilient infrastructure. Douglass began his career at Allen & Overy LLP, working on energy and infrastructure projects in Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean. Douglass was instrumental in the design and launch of the New York Green Bank in the United States and is a co-founder of global Green Bank Network, a membership organization whose founding members are the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (Australia), Connecticut Green Bank, GreenTech Malaysia, Japan Green Finance Organization, NY Green Bank and UK Green Investment Group, NRDC and the Coalition for Green Capital, announced at COP 21 in Paris. Douglass also regularly advises jurisdictions around the world on the green investment bank model and is a member of the Standards Board of the London-based Climate Bonds Initiative. Mr Sims holds a law degree from Harvard Law School and bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.

Dr Gireesh Shrimali leads the India team of Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), working closely with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the Ministry of Finance and other policymakers to advance India towards its clean development goals. He directs the India Innovation Lab for Green Finance, which identifies, develops, and accelerates innovative financial instruments for scaling up investment in renewable energy. He also leads US-India Clean Energy Finance, the first facility in India to help distributed solar projects to develop into viable investment opportunities. Dr Shrimali holds a PhD from Stanford University, an MS from the University of Minnesota, and a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology.

Greg Tracz is Chief Development Officer at the International Hydropower Association (IHA) where he leads business development for members and strategic outreach for the association. He has been involved in public policy and communication in the energy sector for over ten years. At IHA, he is responsible for identifying business opportunities for members, including organisations involved in hydropower development and operation, and supervises the delivery of key projects, including the World Hydropower Congress, a biennial policy forum for decision-makers in the water, climate and energy sectors. He holds a masters’ degrees in political science from Sciences Po (Paris) and a master’s in environmental law from Paris-Sorbonne University. Prior to IHA, Greg has worked in climate and energy-related positions in France and the United States.

Rika Biofuels Developments Limited was established to develop, own and operate a pipeline of large scale AD plants, utilising DVO Inc technology, a market leading US AD technology.

Gregory has been involved in large scale renewable energy projects for over 10 years, was the founding JV partner of companies that own 82,000ha of farms in the Ukraine. He was a Consultant for the UNDP in Ukraine and Serbia.

As BD director Gregory signed the MoU for the development of BioCNG plants in the State of Punjab, and is leading development of new projects in Holland, Belgium and Ukraine.

Mr. Gurbuz Gonul joined the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in 2014 as Head of Regions Unit and currently serves as Acting Director for the Country Support and Partnerships Division.

Formerly, he worked as Senior Energy Economist of the Islamic Development Bank between 2010 and 2014, where he led the work for the development of an Energy Sector Policy for the Bank as well as complex loan and technical assistance projects in Africa and Asia. Between 2004 and 2010, Mr. Gonul served as a Senior Expert at the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels, where he spearheaded policy analysis, sectoral in-depth reviews, and regional and country reviews concerning energy investments, trade and transportation.

He also held positions in the European Commission Delegation in Ankara and Turkey’s Ministry of Energy since 1993.

Professor Hari Upadhyaya joined London South Bank University recently as Head of the Advanced Materials Centre. With a graduation and PhD from BHU, Varanasi (India), his journey in the UK started at the Imperial College London in 2002.

He has an experience of over 25 years in thin-film Photovoltaics involving TCOs, CdTe, CIGS, and Perovskite solar cells, including electrochemical storage technologies. 

He has managed several InnovateUK, and EPSRC programs including an Indo-UK flagship APEX project the success of which has earned him the first Newton Prize and formed the basis of winning the GCRF sponsored SUNRISE program worth ~£7M led by Swansea University.

Mr Inderpreet Wadhwa is a renewable energy enthusiast and has over 20 years of experience building large-scale infrastructure projects, patented application products, extremely profitable operations, and raising venture/project finance for startups and fortune 500 companies in energy, retail, financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, CPG, and service industries. After his successful stint in Silicon Valley, he started Azure Power in 2007 with an aim to create direct and positive social impact with respect to improving the livelihood in parts of rural India. At Azure Power, Inderpreet has been instrumental in creating a leading solar power company with a portfolio of over 3 GW across 23 states. Inderpreet graduated from Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and has Bachelors in Electronics Engineering from G N D U, Punjab.

Shri Jayant Parimal is an IAS Officer (1989 batch). He has done his B.E in Electrical in 1988 from MNIT, Allahabad, CFA in 2002 from ICFAI, Hyderabad, Masters of International Law & Economics in 2004 from World Trade Institute, Bern and LL.B in 2007 from Gujarat University. During his long and illustrious career in Indian Administrative Service, Mr. Parimal has worked in various capacities with Government of Gujarat and Government of India, till 2006. Presently, Shri Jayant Parimal is working as Chief Executive Officer (Renewable Energy) in Adani Group, looking after Group’s Renewable Business. Before joining with Adani Group, he was with Reliance Industries Limited, as President (Special Projects) in Mumbai.

Jörg Gäbler, a German-American citizen, with many years of experience in the Indo-German-American business culture. He has been appointed Principal Advisor of the Indo German Energy Programm since March 2016. He is heading projects related to distributed solar rooftop and grid integration of vRE / distributed storage / and EV charging. Prior, Mr Gaebler was the Managing Director of Wagner Solar Inc from 4/2009 – 11/2015; the US divison of Wagner & Co; the German pioneer of solar energy system manufacturing. Mr. Gäbler holds a BA Business Adminitration  from Northeastern University and M.Sc from the TU Vienna in renewable energy technologies. His master thesis covered the solar thermal market of North America; a process of 3 years of research and market entry preparation for Wagner Solar.

Membership/Awards/Publications etc

Education Qualifications

MSc – Renewable Energies at Technical University Vienna

BA – International Studies Northeastern University, Boston

Mr Balaraman is the Director General at National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE).

I am a policy specialist, working at the intersection of India’s two revolutions: in renewable energy and in financial markets. I am managing The Council’s work on renewable energy policy, markets, finance, and socio-economic benefits. My current responsibilities include analysing financial risks affecting renewable energy investments in India, decoding market dynamics, managing The Council’s periodic surveys on renewable energy jobs, and convening a high-level working group on renewable energy finance (comprising investors, developers and manufacturers). I am actively engaged with private and public enterprises within and outside India to design and develop new financial de-risking instruments and new financial institutions, such as green banks. My research has been used within government, by electricity regulators, and by international agencies and strategic philanthropies.

I have also undertaken extensive research on the International Solar Alliance, work which has been used periodically by the Government of India and other countries. I have represented The Council at various international forums, including the International Renewable Energy Agency, the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) Steering Committee, and the UNFCCC’s Conference of the Parties. Her columns have been published in various newspapers.

Dr Kirk R. Smith is Professor of Global Environmental Health and Director of the Collaborative Clean Air Policy Centre, New Delhi. Prof. Smith’s research focuses on environmental and health issues in developing countries, particularly those related to health-damaging and climate-changing air pollution from household energy use, and includes field measurement and health-effects studies in India, China, Nepal, Mongolia, Mexico, and Guatemala as well as development and application of tools for international policy assessments. He also develops and deploys small, smart, and cheap microchip-based monitors for use in these settings. Prof. Smith has demonstrated that the highest exposures to air pollutants occur in rural, indoor settings in developing countries where biomass and coal are the principal fuels. He has documented the associated risk for pneumonia and adverse birth outcomes in children and cataracts, tuberculosis, heart disease, and chronic lung disease in women as well as developed a range of small, smart, cheap microchip-based devices for field measurements. Dr Smith has a Ph.D. Biomedical and Environmental Health: Energy & Environment (1977), University of California Berkeley, a M.P.H. Environmental Health Sciences (1972), University of California Berkeley and B.A. Physical Sciences: Physics and Astronomy (1968), University of California Berkeley

Mr Kuldeep Jain founded Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions Pvt Ltd (now Clean Max Solar). Clean Max Solar is today India’s No. 1 rooftop solar developer (with 28% market share). Clean Max serves leading Indian and global corporates including groups such as Tatas, Mahindras, Godrej, Bajaj, TVS, Birlas and top global MNCs. Previously he held a position of global partner at the leading McKinsey practices in Energy and Corporate Finance in India. In his 12 years stint with McKinsey, he led various M&A, Management Consultancy, Business Strategy & Corporate Finance assignments across different industries including Power, Infrastructure, Cement, FMCG etc. for leading Indian Corporate, MNCs and Government Organizations in India and Internationally. IIM Ahmedabad recognized Mr Jain, as a ‘Young Achiever’ in 2018 under the Entrepreneurship Category for his outstanding contribution and achievement in shaping CleanMax Solar as the no.1 rooftop developer in India. Mr Jain done a PGDBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) (1997-99 batch) and Chartered Accountant (CA) and ICWA (1997 batch). He has worked with Deloitte Touche Kohmatsu (then SB Billimoria) as part of CA articleship.

Mr Kuljit Singh Popli is the Chairman & Managing Director of IREDA, which is a pioneering developmental financial institution dedicated to the financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in India.  He has been instrumental in bringing out several new and innovative financial products and to help meet financing requirement for the renewable sector. He is also Country Representative –International Solar Alliance - Affordable Finance at Scale. 

Mr Popli has a rich experience of working over 35 years in the Indian Power Sector.  He has worked with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), where he was associated with design, engineering, and supervision of hydro-electric projects and Power Finance Corporation (PFC), where he worked for appraisal and financing of Thermal, Hydro, Transmission & Distribution projects. 

Mr Popli is on the management board of several organisations of national importance and official member of various high-level committees set up by the Government of India in the field of Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency. 

Mr Popli is an engineer by profession with added qualifications in finance and law.

Mr. Kunal Upadhyay serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship. Mr. Upadhyay serves as Chief Executive Officer at Infuse Ventures. He joined CIIE in 2007 and co-founded CIIE's investment arm, raising over $10 million for seed-funding of high-tech ventures. He set-up the incubator and seed-fund - leading incubation of investment in over 25 early stage ventures across the technology sectors, including a dozen focused on the cleantech sector. At CIIE, he directly led many of the investments and continues to guide on various aspects like hiring, fund-raising and strategy. Mr. Upadhyay worked with start-ups across information and communications technology, cleantech, healthcare and materials sector. Mr. Upadhyay led conceptualization of many initiatives at CIIE including the iAccelerator, The Power of Ideas, MentorEdge, Renewable Energy Search and Stay Hungry Stay Foolish. He was a Co-Founder at Sarvajal, focused on the drinking water market and also bootstrapped a campus social network and recruitment start-up. Prior to joining CIIE, Mr. Upadhyay worked across continents as an internal strategy and operation Consultant with Citigroup and American Express. He serves as a Board Observer at Aspiration Energy private limited. He serves as a Member of Board of Directors at Green India Building Systems and Services Private Ltd. He has several years of incubation, investment, entrepreneurial and consulting experience. He is an M.B.A. from IIM Ahmedabad, B.Tech from IIT Madras, and an alumnus of London School of Economics.

Dr Harmon joined LanzaTech from Striatus Inc, where she consulted on proposal and project development in advanced technologies, including energy and renewable fuels. After receiving her PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Michigan, Dr Harmon joined ERIM, a non-profit research organization, to conduct applied R&D for a variety of defense and other government customers. Later, she was a technical co-founder of Nonlinear Dynamics, a company specializing in applied pattern recognition. Dr Harmon provides policy direction and leadership on international legislative and regulatory matters and develops collaborative research and demonstration projects.

Manoj Kohli is Executive Chairman of SB Energy. SoftBank, Bharti Enterprises and Foxconn have formed the JV, SB Energy, which will invest $20 billion over 10 years on renewable energy. Before this, Manoj was Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises and responsible for the growth and operations of Bharti group of companies. Manoj's key contribution has been building Airtel as no 3 telco in the world. He was Managing Director and CEO (International), Bharti Airtel, and was responsible for leading the Africa operations, which was acquired in 2010. Manoj joined Bharti Airtel in 2002 and led Bharti Airtel’s India operations for 8 years during which the customer base grew from 2 to 150 million. Manoj was adjudged “Telecom Man of the Year” in 2000 and “Telecom Person of the Year” in 2004 by Media TransAsia and Voice & Data respectively. He is on the Board of HK University, a member of the Academic Council of the Faculty of Management Studies and has been awarded the “Best Alumni Award” by Shriram College of Commerce, Delhi University. Manoj holds degrees in Commerce, Law and MBA from Delhi University. Manoj also attended the “Executive Business Program” at the Michigan Business School and the “Advanced Management Program” at the Wharton Business School.

Mr. Manu Srivastava, a 1991 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh Cadre, has held various responsibilities during his administrative career, both with Central Government and State Government. Currently, as Principal Secretary, New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of M.P. and Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited, he is spearheading the task of energizing the State with renewable energy. 

Prior to his current role, Mr. Srivastava was Chairman of MP Discoms and Managing Director of M.P. Power Management Company Limited, the holding company of M.P. Discoms during 2012-15 and set roadmap for long term endeavours of the Discoms through 24x7 power to State and Atal Jyoti Abhiyan, which had substantial power cuts earlier. During initial years of his administrative career, he successfully discharged various responsibilities pertaining to Revenue Administration and Revenue Law in the State including Collector of Balaghat (1998-2000), Chhindwara (2000-02) and Khandwa (2002-04) 

Mr. Srivastava had a very remarkable stint with Ministry of Commerce & Industries (MoCI) and Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG), Government of India 2004 to 2012. During 2004-06 in his tenure with MoCI, he looked after, inter alia, WTO matters, Free Trade Agreement discussions, patent issues and dumping matters. At MoPNG during 2006-12, he dealt with natural gas activities such as pricing, allocations, distribution, transportation, City Gas Distribution projects and LNG. He handled all issues pertaining to KG-D6 gas, including allocation and court case of GoI, RIL and RNRL. He gained a lot of experience in international negotiations and contract development during long discussions of trans-national pipelines, namely, Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India(TAPI). 

As a brilliant student belonging to the members of IIT fraternity, Mr. Srivastava earned both his degrees, B. Tech. (Electrical Engineering) and M. Tech. (Telecommunications), from IIT, Delhi.

Marcin Chelkowski is General Manager and CEO of engineering company IVW Polska, being a part of IVW Group. Marcin is a Chartered Engineer and has university degree in civil engineering, with 24 years of professional experience in construction and environmental sector in both the public and private sector.

Previous experience was obtained with German planning and construction companies – L.U.S. Lausitzer Umwelt- und Sanierung GmbH (RWE Group), Polish municipal company – TESKO Ltd in Zakopane, where Marcin was general manager and with an international engineering company Arup where he acted as Europe Resource and Waste Business Leader.

Marcin has a broad experience in waste-to-energy sector, obtained as a member of project teams for e.g. three biggest Polish incinerators: Pozna? Waste to Energy Plant (210k tons/year), Krakow WtE Plant (220k tons/year), Warsaw WtE Plant (305k tons/year). He has been also involved in a number of international waste projects in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Albania.

Mr Michael Eckhart is a Managing Director and Global Head of Environmental Finance in the Corporate and Investment Banking Division of Citigroup in New York City. Previously, he was founding President of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE), a Washington DC-based non-profit organization, where he emerged as a national and global leader in the renewable energy field. 

Earlier, Mr Eckhart developed financing for solar energy under the SolarBank Initiative in Europe, South Africa and India; was Chairman & CEO of United Power Systems, Inc.; Vice President of Areté Ventures, Inc.; a strategic planner of General Electric Company’s power systems sector; and a Principal with the energy practice of Booz, Allen & Hamilton. 

He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including Renewable Energy Man of the Year of India in 1998, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2008, the Good Deal for All Award in 2009, the ISES Hermann Scheer Global Leadership Award in 2013, and Biofuels Financier of the Year in 2014. 

He has received a degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and served in the US Navy Submarine Service.

Mr Michael Waldron is an Energy Investment Analyst and a lead author of the World Energy Investment report at the International Energy Agency. He currently focuses his work on investment in the electricity and renewables sector and trends in energy financing. He was previously the project manager and a lead author of the IEA’s Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report. At the IEA he has also worked as an oil demand and biofuels analyst. Prior to joining the IEA, Mr Waldron worked as a Senior Energy Analyst at Lehman Brothers in New York and London. Mr Waldron obtained his Masters in International Energy Policy & International Economics at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and his Bachelor’s degree in Economics & Government at Cornell University.

Mr Monish Ahuja, Managing Director is known in the Biomass fraternity as a dedicated and knowledgeable leader. He has been advocating the cause of establishing the increased usage of biomass applications for generation of Bio-Energy by encouraging Biomass Project Developers to engage them in such initiatives with attractive economic and commercial considerations. He is an eminent speaker at various seminars and forums conducted by agencies like MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, GOI) and CII.

Group Senior Vice President at Vestas Wind Systems A/S. Based in Copenhagen, he is heading up Vestas’ Global Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs function. He has played a growing role at Vestas over the last 10 years – originally in China and then globally in public affairs and business development. During that period, he has helped Vestas expand into new markets and supporting the development of effective wind and renewable energy policy in countries around the globe.

Ms Namita Vikas is a senior business leader with 28 years of diverse global experience in Banking, Technology & FMCG, with a particular focus on Design Thinking, Sustainable Finance, Climate Action, ESG Risk Management, Public Policy & Corporate Citizenship. Namita was ranked one of the “Leading Women in Business Sustainability" by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and was globally recognized as the "Sustainability Leader of the Year" by Ethical Corporation UK in 2017. She was recently awarded a scholarship by FMO, the Dutch Development Bank of the Netherlands, to be part of the Executive Leadership Program at the THNK School of Creative Leadership, Netherlands.

Her well-rounded global experience spans specializations in climate strategy, responsible & green banking, triple bottom line accounting, and large-scale sustainable development projects. She has a strong track record of leadership development and institution building aimed at deepening the understanding of green banking and mainstreaming sustainability across verticals. 

A certified independent director and a prominent speaker at influential national and international platforms such as the UN General Assembly and G20 amongst others, Namita holds a number of key positions. She has been elected as the Chairperson of UN Natural Capital Finance Alliance; Chairperson of UNGC, West & serves on the boards of YES FOUNDATION; Asia Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN); UNEP-FI Banking Commission; World Resource Institute - India GHG Program; and Indian Centre for CSR (ICCSR). Namita is also an active member of key councils & committees of industry bodies such as the BIS, CII, FICCI, IMC, and BCCI. 

Proficient in building, leading brands & public institutions, throughout her management positions with Marico, Microsoft Corporation and CII, Namita has served onboard the jury of the World Bank's Development Marketplace, TATA Innovista & Americares Social Entrepreneurship Awards. Namita is an alumna of Columbia Business School, Svenska Institutet, Sweden, and Mumbai University. 
 

Neeraj is an expert in the areas of Energy, Infrastructure and Natural Resources. He has extensively advised the private sector on bidding and developing energy and infrastructure projects. Neeraj is an active contributor to the policy debate on energy and infrastructure issues. He is a member of CII’s National Committee on Renewable, Wind and Solar Energy. Neeraj advised IFC and Government of MP on the Rewa Solar project which was mentioned in the Government of India’s Prime Minister’s Book of Innovation, 2017 and won the World Bank Group’s President award for Innovation and Excellence. Neeraj is the India editor for Law Business Research’s Electricity, Energy and Mining series and is recognised by IFLR 1000, IBLJ and Vahura as a leading practitioner in Energy & Infrastructure in India. Neeraj is an alumnus of Symbiosis Law School, Pune University, and a member of Bar Council of Delhi, India.

As the CEO and founder of Cumulus Energy Storage, Nick has established a multinational company with R&D in San Francisco and manufacturing in Sheffield. To date he has raised £4m for product development and is currently raising £4.6m for pilot line production of the lowest-cost grid-level energy storage batteries, using Copper/Zinc technology.

Nick has an experience of 30 years as a general manager, chartered engineer, MBA and strategy consultant.

Qualifications: MBA, CEng, BSc

Mr Nitin Prasad is the Chairman of Shell Companies in India.

Nitin, a Fortune 40 under 40 awardee, is a dynamic and accomplished business leader with 20+ years of cross-cultural professional experience spanning industries from technology to energy and geographies from the USA, Singapore to India.

Nitin did his schooling from the Doon School, India before completing an engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology, USA and thereafter went on to complete his MBA from INSEAD.

Prior to the current role, Nitin was the Managing Director for Shell Lubricants for the cluster of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, which combined is the 3rd largest lubricants market in the world.

This role was preceded by several other roles in Shell across verticals of strategy, marketing, project delivery and supply chain in geographies of Asia Pacific, South East Asia, and the USA.

Shri Pankaj Batra did his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering, Diploma in Systems Management, Diploma in Financial Management and Diploma in Public Speaking.  He is Chairperson I/C and CEO of the Central Electricity Authority, responsible for overall development of the Indian Power System including Hydro, Thermal and Renewable Power as well as the Transmission & Distribution System of the country.  He is also the Member (Planning) and ex-officio Additional Secretary to the Government of India and oversees various policy and planning functions, including Electric Power Survey Report on long term demand forecasting, National Electricity Plan on Generation Planning, Coal and Gas supply to power stations, renewable sources of energy, etc. He has worked in the Western Regional Load Despatch Centre (WRLDC) as a System Operator.

He was also responsible for operation and maintenance of Power House, Switchyard and Dam in Chukha Hydro Power Corporation in Bhutan and operation and later operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution system of Bhutan. He has worked in the Grid Management in the CEA Headquarters. He framed the regulations of CEA on Technical Standards for Connectivity to the Grid and regulations on Grid Standards.He has worked as Chief (Engineering) in Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) formulating various Regulations, including various provisions related to wind and solar power in the revised Indian Electricity Grid Code.

He also started the Division on Regulatory Affairs in CEA and worked in Financial and Commercial Appraisal of power generation and transmission projects in the CEA, and various financial and commercial matters. He was involved in making the Standard Bidding documents for procurement of generation and transmission services, Tariff Policy and National Electricity Policy, etc.

He was in the Task Force on Peaking Power Plants and Creation of Adequate System Reserves and on Integration of electricity from Renewable Energy sources in the Grid. He was also in the Committee of Ministry of Power for formulation of Model Smart Grid Regulations.

He is the Chairperson of Working Group 4 on “Policy, Regulation and Business Models” in the India Smart Grid Forum. He is also Chairperson of the BIS Committee of LITD 10 – “Power System Control and Associated Communication”. He is Chairperson of the BIS Committee for making technical Standards on Grid Scale Storage and has finalised the standards. He was also Chairperson of the Committee on preparing an approach paper for charging of electric vehicles including the facility, institutional arrangement and identification of regulatory interventions, if any, which has submitted its report.

Mr Per Volund is Project Director at the Danish Engineering Consultant COWI in the wind department. He has a Master in engineering and a degree in business administration. His career started with a decade in wind turbine research at the Technical University of Denmark. Since 1995 Volund has worked with offshore wind projects, including almost a decade at what has become Orsted. During recent years he has worked in offshore wind consultancy, including the last three years as COWIs Project Manager in the EU-financed project FOWPI, which assists India in preparing for the First Offshore Windfarm Project in Gujarat.

As Deputy Executive Secretary at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Dr Monga provides strategic support to the Executive Secretary and the Secretariat to implement the mandate and activities of the Convention that links environment and development to sustainable land management, and contributes to the global efforts to reverse and prevent desertification and land degradation, and to mitigate the effects of drought in affected countries in order to support climate action and environmental sustainability. 

The Convention’s parties work together to improve the living conditions for people in dry lands, to maintain and restore land and soil productivity, and to mitigate the effects of drought. The UNCCD is particularly committed to a bottom-up approach, encouraging the participation of local people in combating desertification and land degradation. The UNCCD secretariat facilitates cooperation between developed and developing countries, particularly around knowledge and technology transfer for sustainable land management. 

As the dynamics of land, climate and biodiversity are intimately connected, the UNCCD collaborates closely with the other two Rio Conventions; the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to meet these complex challenges with an integrated approach and the best possible use of natural resources.

Mr Pratik Agarwal is a Non-Executive Director of the Company and is the CEO of Sterlite Power Transmission Limited. A Wharton graduate and MBA from London Business School, he has over 10 years of experience in building core infrastructure assets in India. He founded the infrastructure business of the Group in 2009 and built it up to levels where it now has significant investments in ports, power transmission, and broadband networks.

Dr Rahul Walawalkar is President & MD of Customized Energy Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. He leads the Emerging Technologies practice for Customized Energy Solutions globally with focus on energy storage, renewables, demand response, electric vehicles and smart grid technologies. Rahul is founder and Executive Director of India Energy Storage Alliance since 2012. He served as board member for Energy Storage Association, USA during 2009-15 and currently serves as Vice Chair for Global Energy Storage Alliance. In 2014, he was nominated as part of Standing Committee on Energy Storage and Hybrid systems by MNRE and is currently working on drafting the national energy storage mission. He served as member of national taskforce for renewable integration by Central Electricity Authority & Ministry of Power during 2013-14. Under Rahul’s leadership Customized energy solutions has received various awards including IPPAI Power Innovation Award for creation of India Energy Storage Alliance in 2016-17, Brad Roberts Award for outstanding industry contribution by Energy Storage Association (USA) in 2016, USAID’s PACEsetter Fund Award for MICRO initiative in 2016 and CII Innovative Energy Services Award for Tata Power Demand Response program in 2012. He was recognized with India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) President’s Award in 2018 for outstanding contribution to growth of smart grids in India. He is also recipient of Energy Storage Crusader Award from Renewable Energy India Expo in 2017, DSK Energy Award from Institution of Engineers in 2014 and Computer Society of India’s Young IT Professional Award for 2000 and 2001. Rahul holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, M.S. in Energy Management from NYIT and B.E. from Walchand College of Engineering.

Dr Rahul Tongia is a Fellow with Brookings India, where he leads the energy and sustainability group. His work focuses on technology and policy, especially for sustainable development, with a focus across the entire gamut of electricity. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was previously on the faculty for a dozen years. He was the founding Technical Advisor for the Government of India’s Smart Grid Task Force and remains Founding Advisor for the India Smart Grid Forum. He has a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Engineering & Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University.

Mr Rahul Munjal is the Chairman and Managing Director of Hero Future Energies. The company which came into existence in the year 2012, is the first-ever initiative of the Hero Group to foray into renewables. He is the third-generation scion of one of leading industrial houses of India, the Hero Group. It is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. Rahul has an avant-garde entrepreneurial spirit, which combined with his passion for the environment, has led him to establish Hero Future Energies(HFE) in 2012 of which he is the chairman and managing director. HFE is a wind and solar energy integrated power producer(IPP) and is one of the biggest success stories in renewable energy in India. With offices in London and Singapore HFE is on its way to expanding globally and becoming an MNC. Rahul is presently Co-chair of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) National Council on Solar Energy.  He also serves as Director of Rockman Industries Ltd. Rahul is a trustee of Raman Kant Munjal Foundation which manages CSR initiatives of the group companies. He has been awarded ‘GLOBAL EXCELLENCE AWARD – 2014’ in renewable energy by Energy and Environment Foundation (EEF) and national awards for excellence as Renewable Energy Leader & Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 by World CSR Congress.

Shri Raj Gopal, IAS has been a Director of Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited since August 8, 2018. He is Principal Secretary to Govt. of Gujarat, Energy and Petrochemicals Department (EPD). He is a 1987 batch IAS Officer and has rich and varied experience of over 30 years. He has been Chairman of Gujarat Industries Power Company Limited since August 07, 2018. He previously served as a Director of Gujarat Industries Power Co. Ltd., from July 5, 2012 to August 30, 2014. He was holding key positions in various Departments of Govt. of Gujarat viz. Revenue, Agriculture & Co-operation, Home, Tourism, Urban Development, Sales Tax, Rural Department, Geology & Mining, Road Transport, and Energy. He was Managing Director of Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. (GUVNL), and was also a Director on the Board Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Limited, Gujarat lndustries Power Company Limited, Gujarat Power Corporation Limited, Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited, Gujarat State Energy Generation Limited, Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited, Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Limited, Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited, Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited, Gujarat Green Revolution Company Limited, Gujarat Fibre Grid Network Limited. Shri. Gopal has done his Masters in Arts (German Language) from Banaras Hindu University, M.B.A. from University of Hull, U.K. and is Law Graduate from Gujarat University.

Mr Rajeev Sharma has taken over as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the company with effect from 1 October, 2016.Before joining PFC, Sharma was the CMD of Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd (REC), another financier of power projects under the aegis of the power ministry.

Under his leadership, Sharma helped REC scale greater heights by doubling the revenue and profits in the last five years. Mr Sharma is also considered the architect of the government’s flagship schemes like Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana and Restructured-Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP).

Mr Sharma holds a B.Tech (Electrical) and Masters Degree in Engineering from IIT Roorkee and also a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi University. Sharma has more than 30 years of experience and has served in various positions in the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the power ministry, Powergrid and PFC as as Director-Projects.

While in CEA, Mr Sharma was involved in the design, engineering and consultancy of Nathpa Jhakri HE Project (1,500 Mw). During his tenure as Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Power, important projects like 2,000 MW Talcher-Kolar HVDC Bipole and Tala Transmission System (first public private partnership) of Powergrid Corp were approved by the government.

Dr. Rajit Gadh is a Professor at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at UCLA, and the Founding Director of the *UCLA Smart Grid Energy Research Center* or *SMERC*. He is also Founder and Director of the *Wireless Internet for Mobile Enterprise Consortium* or *WINMEC*. Dr. Gadh's research interests include Smart Grid Architectures, Smart wireless communications, sense and control for Demand Response, Micro Grids and Electric Vehicle Integration into the Grid, Mobile Multimedia, Wireless and RFID Middleware, RFID and Wireless sensors for Tracking Assets, RF-sensor-control interfaces,and Visualization. He has over 150 papers in journals, conferences and technical magazines, and, 3 patents granted. He has a Doctorate degree from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), a Masters from Cornell University and a Bachelor's degree from IIT Kanpur. He has taught as a visiting researcher at UC Berkeley, has been an Assistant, Associate and Full Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and did his sabbatical as a visiting researcher at Stanford University for a year. He has won several awards from NSF (CAREER award, Research Initiation Award, NSF-Lucent Industry Ecology Award, GOAL-I award), SAE (Ralph Teetor award), IEEE (second best student-paper, WTS), ASME (Kodak Best Technical Paper award), AT&T (Industrial ecology fellow award), Engineering Education Foundation (Research Initiation Award), William Wong Fellowship award from University of Hong-Kong, etc., and other accolades in his career. He is on the Editorial board of ACM Computers in Entertainment Publication and the CAD Journal.

Mr Rajiv Mishra is responsible for running the business of CLP in India. He joined the CLP Group in 2002 and has over 20 years’ of experience in the power industry, both in India and internationally, mostly involved in project financing, investment appraisal, finance and accounting, and general management. Before assuming the role of Managing Director of CLP India, Rajiv has held a variety of senior positions in the Power Industry viz Deputy Managing Director/Chief Financial Officer of BLCP Power in Thailand, Finance Director of PowerGen India and Finance Director of LG Energy in Seoul, South Korea.

Rajiv has successfully transformed CLP India from a single-asset and project management company to a fully-grown organisation with presence across conventional and renewables sources of energy

He holds a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering (first class distinction) from BIT, Sindri and an MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, and is an Advanced Management Program Graduate from the Harvard Business School, Boston.

Rajiv has also served as the Chairman of Association of Power Producers, a grouping of nearly 90% of India’s Private Power Generators and is the Co-Chairman for the Confederation of Indian Industry, together with one of India’s largest Industry body representing both the Public and Private sectors. Through these associations, he plays an active role in making representations on issues concerning companies in the Power Sector in India.

Rajiv is also a member of a select group of Private sector Entrepreneurs and CEOs, formed by India’s NITI Aayog (the government think-tank) and the Prime Minister’s Office, to advise the Government of India on the policy changes required to create a World-Class Infrastructure in India by 2022.

Mr Rajnish Sharma currently serves as Technology Director – wind & low carbon solutions at Equinor. Previously, he has had an experience of more than 20 years in the oil and gas industry, where he had a variety of management roles within Research, Development and Innovation, Technology qualification, Project development, Onshore/Offshore operations and Sales & Marketing. Rajnish holds a higher degree in Systems and Control Engineering.

Mr. Abhishek joined Indian Administrative Service in the year 1982 in Bihar Cadre. He has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School. He also has a Masters Degree in Business Administration in Finance as well as a Masters Degree in International Relations.

He has worked in Bihar for over 15 years in the posts of Divisional Commissioner, Patna and District Magistrate, Patna and East Champaran.  In the Government of India, he has been Chairman of the Commodity Derivative Markets Regulator, Forward Markets Commission. During his term, he brought about far-reaching reforms in the regulation of the market.

Mr. Abhishek has also worked in the Supreme Court of India as a key Member of the E-Committee that is entrusted with the task of bringing e-Governance in Judiciary.  He has also worked in the United Nations in Kosovo as Civil Affairs Officer.

Since 1st March, 2016 he is Secretary to Govt. of India in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the key Department which is spearheading key Government initiatives such as Make in India, Start-up India, Ease of Doing Business, Intellectual Property Rights and Industrial Corridors in the country.

During his term, India has seen a remarkable jump of 30 ranks in the World Bank Doing Business Report 2018. Several FDI reforms were done and record FDI inflow of 60 billion US $ received in 2016-17. Administration of Intellectual Property Rights has also seen a dramatic turnaround during his term. As Chairman of Invest India, he has guided the investment promotion agency into facilitating over 85 billion US $ of 500+ foreign investment proposals in just two years out of which over 7.5 billion $ have already been grounded.

Ramesh Kymal is the Chairman & Managing Director of Siemens Gamesa India. Siemens Gamesa established its presence in India in the year 2009. Since then Kymal has piloted the company’s growth successfully by commissioning over 5500 MW of wind power, over 400 MW of solar power projects across the country and leads a team of over 2500 people.

He has over 25 years of experience in the renewable energy industry, casting his leadership traits across multi – national renewable energy corporations thus bringing out continuous growth in India’s renewable energy business.

Mr Rana Kapoor is a visionary business leader, professional entrepreneur and founder of YES BANK. Under his leadership, YES BANK has emerged as the 4th largest private sector Bank in India. Mr Kapoor has championed innovative management frameworks like Knowledge Banking – through the focus of YES BANK on the “Sunrise sectors of India”, and Responsible Banking – mainstreaming a business case for Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability, which have been truly ahead of their times. Under his guidance, during the 1st RE-Invest Summit in 2015, YES BANK had committed to mobilizing USD 5 Billion towards Climate Finance from 2015 to 2020 and remains well ahead of the target to achieve this goal. YES BANK successfully issued the 1st Green Infrastructure Bonds in India worth INR 10 Billion in Feb 2015, followed by an INR 3.15 Billion Green Bond Issue to IFC, Washington in August 2015 and INR 3.3 Billion issue to FMO, the Netherlands in September 2016. On World Environment Day 2018, YES BANK launched the first-ever green deposit product for India, earmarking equivalent proceeds raised through Green Future: Deposit towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aligned sectors, which contribute to the growth of the nation and safeguard our future.

Rangan Banerjee is the Forbes Marshall Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay – a Department that he helped start in 2007. His areas of interest include energy management, modelling of energy systems, energy planning and policy, hydrogen energy and fuel cells. He is on the editorial board of Energy for Sustainable Development, International Journal of Sustainable Energy, International Journal of Sustainable Engineering and International Journal of Thermodynamics and Frontiers in Energy Research. He has been involved in setting up a Megawattscale Solar Thermal Power Testing, Simulation, Research Facility sponsored by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. He was the faculty advisor to Team Shunya the first Indian Student team selected for the finals of the Solar Decathlon 2014 held in Europe that involves designing and constructing a fully functional Solar house. He is a member of the TIFAC Technology Vision 2035 - Apex Committee and Chairman of the Energy Technology Theme. He was a Convening Lead Analyst for Industrial End Use Efficiency and a member of the executive committee for the Global Energy Assessment (2008-2011) coordinated by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. He was a member of the Working Group on New and Renewable Energy for the Elleventh and Twelfth Five Year Plans and a member of the Planning Commission’s Integrated Energy Policy. He was a Member of International committee to review UK’s Energy Research Programme in 2010 (RCUK Review of Energy). He has co- authored a book on Planning for Demand Side Management in the Power sector, a book on Energy Cost in the Chemical Industry and a book on Engineering Education in India. He has conducted two international training programmes on solar energy and several National programmes on renewable energy and Energy Management. He is also an Adjunct faculty (Honorary) in the Department of Engineering & Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University. He has been the Dean(R&D) of IIT Bombay. He has received the Excellence in Teaching Award from IIT Bombay and is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering.

Reji is the President of India Smart Grid Forum since its inception in 2011 and is also the Chairman of Global Smart Grid Federation presently. He is an internationally renowned expert with over three decades of experience in the electricity sector in diverse functions covering the entire value chain and across continents. He is spearheading a mission to leverage technology to transform the electric grid in India and light every home at affordable cost through sustainable developmental models. Reji played the pivotal role in formulation of the Smart Grid Vision and Roadmap for India (August 2013) and the launch of a National Smart Grid Mission (March 2015) by Government of India, issue of Model Smart Grid Regulations (June 2015) by Forum of Regulators; and issue of Standards for Smart Meters (IS 16444 -2015 and IS 15959 Part 2) by Bureau of Indian Standards. He is presently advocating for a “Right to Electricity Act” that will ensure lifeline supply of electricity to all citizens in the country. His current areas of research cover: Electric Vehicle Policies and Infrastructure Plans, WiFi as Last Mile Connectivity Solution for Smart Metering, Smart Grids as Anchor Infrastructure for Smart Cities, Development of Smart City Maturity Model, Grid Interactive Buildings and Campuses; Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Blockchain for power sector.

In November 2016 Reji was unanimously elected as Chairman of Global Smart Grid Federation (GSGF), a global umbrella organization of smart grid associations from various countries. As an entrepreneur, Reji has built successful enterprises in India and overseas and exited them. Reji has studied Engineering, Finance, Management and Law; worked with NTPC and IBM and has been senior consultant with ADB, World Bank and USAID. A recognized thought leader in smart grid technologies and concepts of smart cities, Reji is a popular key-note speaker at international symposiums and conferences on smart grids and smart cities. He has also contributed to several articles and books.

Mr Berkel is the representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for the Regional Office in India. Responsible for coordination of work of UNIDO in India and region for inclusive and sustainable industrial development, with emphasis on industrial energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean technology and inclusive and responsible value chains. 

Other work experiences

30 years’ experience in industrial resource efficiency, cleaner production, industrial ecology, social responsibility and innovation, including assignments as Unit Chief Cleaner and Sustainable Production at UNIDO and Professor of Cleaner Production at Curtin University in Australia.

Prof. S Dasappa is a faculty at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science. He received his education at the Indian Institute of Science and obtained Masters and Ph. D degree from the faculty of engineering. He is also Associate faculty in Inter Disciplinary Centre for Energy Research. His area of research has been solid, liquid and gaseous fuel combustion science and technology. The work has resulted in the understanding of various processes occurring during gasification and answered several myths in the area of gasification. He has over 150 publications in various international and national journals, conferences and edited books and 18 patents. Prof. Dasappa has been involved in technology transfer for bioenergy devices in India and abroad. He has been involved in several national and international projects. He has won several awards in the area of Biomass energy – national and international. Further both the scientific and technological superiority has resulted in technology transfer to developing and developed nations. These technological interventions in industries have resulted in saving over 1000 tons of oil annually resulting in mitigating over 3000 tons of CO2.

Mr Vijayanand S has done his Post Graduation in Chemical Engineering. His journey in Amara Raja started in the month of November 1992 as Assistant Manager. He has also undergone a General Management and Leadership Development Programme in Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. During his tenure, he handled Marketing, Research and Engineering and various other roles. He is the Merit award winner for his contribution to the “yellow hat / kantori startup team” by JCI in May 2005. He headed the Industrial Batteries SBU of ARBL before and was also the CEO of Amara Raja Power Systems Business. He’s now the CEO of ARBL.

Mr Sanjeev Aggarwal is the Founder CEO of Amplus Energy Solutions, one of India’s fastest growing distributed solar companies. He has 20+ years of experience in the thermal & RE sectors. Under his leadership, Amplus has built up a portfolio of over 300 MW of Rooftop & Open Access solar projects spread across 200+ sites. In 2013, Mr Aggarwal was recognized as a Young Leader by FICCI. He has also won the Global CEO Award (Finance Monthly) consecutively in 2017 & 2018, for leading Amplus on its remarkable growth path. Mr Aggarwal is a Mechanical Engineer and an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad.

Dr. Sanjiv Malhotra is the first Director of the Energy Investor Center (EIC), located within the Office of Technology Transitions at the U.S. Department of Energy. As the center’s first Director, Dr. Malhotra has been responsible for standing up the EIC, which serves as a single point of contact for investors within the DOE for accessing promising projects, and subject matter experts. EIC works with program offices within DOE as well as with DOE’s National Labs in crafting innovative models for Public Private Partnerships with the objective of enhancing private sector investment for DOE funded projects. Previously, from 2005 to 2014, he served as the founder, President, and CEO of Oorja Protonics, a global leader in the design, development, and manufacturing of methanol fuel cells. During his time at the company, he attracted more than $32 million in investments from leading private sector equity firms including Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures and several others, and he was instrumental in leading the company to profitability. Over the course of his diverse career, he has been an advisor at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers, served as part of the executive management team at DCH Technology and H Power Corp, and worked as a researcher at DOE’s Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory. He led H Power to a successful IPO in Aug’2000 raising $104 Million from the Public Market. Dr. Malhotra holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in business administration, and a doctoral degree in chemical and biochemical engineering from the University of Iowa.

Mr Sean Kidney is CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, an international NGO working to mobilize debt capital markets for climate solutions. Projects include a green bond definitions and certification scheme with $34 trillion of assets represented on its Board and some 200 organizations involved in its development and governance; working with the Chinese central bank on how to grow green bonds in China; an international Green Infrastructure Investment Coalition; market development programs in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria and East Africa; and a green finance aggregation platform with UNDP. He is a member of the EU Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance, co-Chair of the India Green Bonds Council and a member of the Astana International Finance Centre’s Green Advisory Committee. He has previously been a consultant on green bonds to the United Nations Secretary General, a member of the European Commission's High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance and the UK Government’s Green Finance Task Force.

Shahid is a research fellow at KAPSARC working on topics related to the future development of a regional electricity market in the GCC & MENA region. As an energy specialist with over two decades of consulting and research experience, he has consulted extensively on policy, regulatory and electricity market design issues. Before moving to Riyadh, Shahid spent nearly two decades at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi. He has also contributed to a number of government reports aimed to facilitate transition of the energy sector. Shahid has worked closely with the government, regulatory commissions, utilities, and international organizations and research institutions. He has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University, India.

Dr Shalini Sarin is Chair, Signify Foundation (former Philips Lighting) and advisor Signify Solar business. She is also the Chair of the Global Task force of Foundation for ISA and an Independent Director at Linde India.

Shalini has led the HR function for over 3 decades in India, Europe and globally. She also has significant experience in CSR, base of the pyramid social venture & solar business.  

She holds a Doctorate in Organization Behaviour, and a Masters in Sociology and Human Resource Management. She has an Advanced Human Resource from Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, an Executive Coach from Motorola University-Chicago and a Psychometrician from British Psychology Society.
 
Shalini has led and lived through several organization transformations, mergers, acquisitions, IPOs and Organization Restructuring. 

Besides this, she loves to mentor and advise some start ups and is on the board of BD Foundation which promotes diversity and inclusion. 

She is very passionate about mobilizing action to enable effective ecosystems at the base of the pyramid to build sustainable business models and mentors women leaders & social entrepreneurs. Shalini has authored many articles and presented at various Indian and International Conferences.

Mr Simon Stolp currently leads the World Bank’s $5 billion energy sector engagement in India, which is growing rapidly and providing significant financing and technical support for India’s renewable energy development, and to investments aimed at turning around India’s financially stressed distribution sector. The World Bank will commit over $1 Billion in financing to India’s solar PV development this year, and has signed a joint declaration in support of the Indian led International Solar Alliance. Previously, he led the Bank’s energy sector engagement in the Middle East and North Africa region, managing energy policy and strategy dialogue and a portfolio of loan and technical assistance projects to the energy sector. Mr Stolp’s earlier career involved public and private development of renewable energy infrastructure throughout Australia and SE Asia with Hydro Tasmania, Australia’s largest renewable energy supplier. He Stolp has also consulted to government, international development agencies, private developers and financiers in the international energy sector. Through these roles Mr Stolp has led the planning, financing and development of over $20 Billion of infrastructure assets.

Ms Soma Banerjee is the Executive Director, Energy & Infrastructure at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). She works closely with senior officials of the Government of India, industry leaders, and experts from thinktanks and multilateral agencies supporting the economic growth of the country through policy advocacy, project execution, preparation of policy documents, and engagements.

Prior to being at CII, Ms Banerjee was National Economics Editor at the Economic Times for 22 years. She has written extensively and is recognized on a wide range of issues, including the energy sector.

Sonam Wangchuk was born in the trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Though a Mechanical Engineer by education, he has been mostly working in the field of education reform for more than 27 years.  In 1988, just after he finished his engineering studies he founded SECMOL (Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh) www.secmol.org, which aims to bring reforms in the government school system in Ladakh.

In 1994 he was instrumental in the launch of Operation New Hope, a triangular collaboration of the government, village communities and the civil society to bring reforms in the government schools system. The programme involved formation of Village Education Committees to take ownership of state schools, training of teachers in child friendly ways and re-writing and publishing localised text books for Ladakh. As a result the pass percentage at 10th grade (matriculation) rose from the dismal 5% to 55% in seven years and 75% these days. 

For students who still failed in their state exams he founded the SECMOL Alternative School Campus near Leh, a special school where the admission criteria is failure in exams and not grades. However with the supportive and creative environment at the school, the so called failures have excelled in their chosen fields and risen to international acclaim as entrepreneurs, film makers, politicians, teachers and so on.

As an engineer Sonam Wangchuk has been teaching innovation at the SECMOL Alternative School, where together with the students he designed and built solar heated buildings that are low cost, made of earth/mud but maintain +15 C even when the outside temperature is – 15 C in Ladakhi winters.  
In order to solve the water crisis facing mountain regions due to climate change and fast melting glaciers he invented the Ice Stupa artificial glacier which stores the wasting stream waters in winter in the form of giant ice cones or stupas and releases the water in late spring as they melt... just when farmers need water. 

Sonam Wangchuk was granted several awards and titles, such as :-
The GQ Men Of The Year Award for Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 in India, The Rolex Award for Enterprise 2016 in Hollywood USA, The Terra Award 2016 for World’s best Earth Buildings in Lyon France, The UNESCO Chair for Earth Architecture for India in 2014; ‘Real Heroes’ Award by CNN IBN Channel in 2008, ‘Green Teacher’ Award by Sanctuary Asia Magazine in 2005, Ashoka Fellowship by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public in 2002, ‘Man of the Year’ by The Week magazine in India in 2001 and the Governors Medal by the J&K State Government in 1996.
 

Steve Sawyer, Secretary-General of GWEC, has worked in the energy and environment field since 1978, with a particular focus on climate change and renewable energy since 1988. He spent many years working for Greenpeace International, representing the organization at intergovernmental and industry fora primarily on energy and climate issues. At GWEC he is focused on working with intergovernmental organizations such as the UNFCCC, IPCC, IRENA, IEA, IFC, and ADB to ensure that wind power takes its rightful place in the energy options for the future; and with opening up new markets for the industry worldwide.

Mr Sumant Sinha, aged 53 years, is the Chairman and Managing Director of our Company. He holds a Bachelors in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and a Masters in International Affairs from the Columbia University. He is also a CFA charterholder and a member of the Institute. He worked as an investment banker in the United States and the United Kingdom at Citicorp Securities and ING Barings Services Limited, respectively, before returning to India as Senior President, Finance, of the Aditya Birla Group and subsequently as the Chief Executive Officer of Aditya Birla Retail. Subsequent to this, he joined Suzlon in 2008 and served as the Chief Operating Officer until 2010.

Mr Sunil Jain assumed the role of CEO and ED at Hero Future Energies (HFE) in the year 2013. He has over three decades of experience in the entire aspect of business in automotive, infrastructure and cleantech, and manufacturing industry.

He specializes in creating new businesses and taking the start-ups to scale. Sunil has been involved in introducing new concepts of power selling in the Indian renewable sector, especially wind. He has been actively advocating for stable and meaningful policies to promote the cause of green energy. Sunil has a consistent record of delivering extraordinary results in growth, revenue, and operational excellence. His cumulative experience has been of setting up more than 2.5 GW capacity on-ground. Characterized as visionary and strategist, he has assumed the thought leadership position in the renewables sector in India.

Mr S K Soonee is the Advisor of Power System Operation Corporation Limited and has also served as the Chief Executive Officer of POSOCO. He served as an Executive Director of System Operations at Power Grid Corporation of India Limited. Mr. Soonee has 30 years of work experience. He has first-hand three decades experience of Power System Operation of Eastern, Southern and Northern Grids of India. He joined Central Electricity Authority through Central Power Engineering Services in 1978. He has worked extensively in Integration of State Grids to form a Regional Grid and subsequent integration of Regional Grids leading to the formation of the National Grid. He has specialization in Power System Operation, Planning, Commercial, Settlement, Restoration and entire gamut of Power Pooling and Governance. Other areas of expertise of Mr. Soonee include Electricity Markets including Power Exchanges, Open Access in Inter-State Transmission System, and Regulatory affairs besides expertise in Load Despatch Technology, integration of Renewable Energy Sources including REC Mechanism, Transmission Pricing and development of Ancillary Services. Prior to joining PowerGrid Corporation of India Ltd. in January 1995, he worked in the CEA. He is a Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India), Senior Member of IEEE and represents India on the CIGRE Study Committee C2 on Power System Operation and Control. He graduated with a Bachelor of Technology Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

Ms Tammy Chu is the Managing Director of specialist power and water consulting firm Entura. She has extensive experience in the engineering consulting industry in Australia and internationally, focusing on hydropower, renewables and water infrastructure.

Other work experiences

As a civil engineer, Ms Chu specialised in the design and construction of hydropower systems, feasibility studies, environmental assessments and approvals, water resource investigations and management.

Membership/Awards/Publications etc

Ms Chu is a member of the Board of the International Hydropower Association. She was the first female president of the Tasmanian Division of Engineers Australia, and an Engineers Australia National Congress representative.

Tim Karlsson is Executive Director of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE), an inter-governmental partnership of 18 countries and the European Commission that works to help facilitate the transition to clean & efficient energy, mobility, industry, and built environment systems using fuel cells and hydrogen. Previously, Mr. Karlsson held various posts including Director of Environmental & Clean Energy Industries in the Canadian Department of Industry. Mr. Karlsson has worked on numerous policy issues related to energy and the environment including climate change as a delegate to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. He has a Masters degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia.

Dr Tomas Kåberger is Professor in Industrial Energy policy at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and Executive Board Chair of Tokyo based Renewable Energy Institute. He serves as a non- executive director of the European power company Vattenfall, as senior Advisor to Beijing based GEIDCO, and as member of the Swedish National Climate Policy Council. He has previously served as Director General of the Swedish National Energy Agency, and in leading positions of renewable energy companies, environmental and renewable energy organisations. He is an elected member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences and the Swedish Association of Energy Economists.

Mr Tulsi Tanti has been the Chairman of Suzlon Energy Limited since inception of the company in April, 1995. Suzlon Energy is one of the leading renewable energy solutions providers in the world. Prior to Suzlon, he has worked with various industries including textiles. Mr Tanti has conferred with numerous awards including: • 'Champion of the Earth' by the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2009 • 'Hero of the Environment' by TIME magazine for his contribution to raising awareness and initiating action on global climate change • 'Entrepreneur of the Year 2006' by Ernst & Young • 'World Wind Energy Award' by World Wind Energy Association • The CNBC TV18 'India Business Leader Award’ • 'Chanchlani Global Indian Award' by Canada India Foundation • 'Global New Energy Business Leader Award' by China Energy News • 'Asia’s Most Promising Leader Award' by Ibrands, Dubai

Uday in the Managing Director of Kirloskar EnerGen Pvt Ltd and Kirloskar Solar Technologies Pvt Ltd and a Director of Kirloskar Integrated Technologies Pvt Ltd, all members of the US$ 2.5 billion Kirloskar Group of Companies. He is credited with developing a next-generation technology for hydropower turbines which could be used for setting up small hydropower plants. This technology has been patented in many countries including the USA and under the grant in over eighty countries.

Other work experiences - Uday has earlier held senior and strategic positions in the Reliance Industries Group Company (as CEO), Siemens Group Company (as COO) and the CCST Group (as Director), both in India and overseas. He has been a member of the top management team at these companies. Uday has successfully set up and managed two companies with revenues of Rs 1000 Mn & Rs 8,000 Mn during the course of his previous assignments. He is also credited with setting up India’s first integrated global shared services center.

Ulrik Stridbaek, Vice President at Ørsted, is the Head of Regulatory Affairs. He is responsible for managing Ørsted’s stakeholder engagement on regulatory and policy issues. He has worked at Ørsted for 10 years. Before joining Ørsted he was a senior policy advisor at the International Energy Agency, where he was responsible for electricity sector analysis, giving policy advice to member governments. He worked at the IEA for 4 years. Ulrik Stridbaek has worked in the energy sector on energy sector analysis, regulation and policy for more than 20 years. He holds a Masters degree in Economics.

Venkat Venkataraman is the CTO and EVP of Engineering at Bloom Energy. He leads the development of highly efficient and low cost Bloom Energy Servers. During his tenure at Bloom, he led the company through many technological breakthroughs bringing SOFC technology from early stages of development to a very matured state enabling deployment of highly efficient commercial systems. Over the years, Venkat has assembled, led and mentored a very strong team of engineers and innovators around the world in the areas of stack technology, system integration and power electronics, who have made tremendous strides in that time, solving the key technical challenges that had previously prevented the commercialization of SOFC technologies. Besides managing the technology at Bloom Energy, he manages IT and customer installation groups.

Prior to joining Bloom Energy, Venkat was a Principal Technologist at Aspen Technology, Inc. where he led the commercial development of high end design, simulation and optimization software for the chemical and petrochemical industries.

Venkat is a winner of AIChE award in the area of chemical process optimization.

He has authored/co-authored several patents in the areas of SOFC technology, fuel processing, heat integration and control systems. 

Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi has published several books, authored numerous research articles and produced many project reports on resource management policies, energy infrastructure design, and private sector participation in Green Growth. Dr Anbumozhi was invited as a member of the APEC Expert Panel on Green Climate Finance and the ASEAN Panel for promoting climate-resilient growth. He has taught resource management, International cooperation and Development Finance at the University of Tokyo and has speaking engagements at some of the leading international organisations. He obtained his PhD from the University of Tokyo.

Mr Vikram Kailas has worked in the Energy & Utilities investment banking group at Credit Suisse in New York, where he was involved in a number of renewable energy transactions, including a US$ 6 bn exit financing for Calpine and a US$ 300 mn loan for First Energy.

Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Vikram Kailas worked for Deloitte Consulting in India. Vikram Kailas has a Bachelor in Engineering degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai and Master of Business Administration degree from Yale School of Management

Under Vikram’s leadership, in a span of six years, Mytrah Energy, a pioneer and one of the largest independent power producers (‘IPP’) in renewable energy in India reached a portfolio of 2000 MW.  With power generation assets across 16 projects and 9 states, Mytrah has more than 200 wind masts installed across multiple states in India. As India's smart utility, Mytrah through a diversified renewable energy portfolio leverages its robust end-to-end capabilities in generating renewable energy for its projects in India. The Company currently has an active development pipeline of about 3000 MW of wind energy and 500 MW of solar energy.

Mr Vinay Rustagi is Managing Director at BRIDGE TO INDIA, a specialist renewables-focused consulting and research company. He advises companies, institutions and policy makers on a vast range of strategic, policy, financial and business development issues. He is passionate about developing successful business models that solve India’s energy problems in an environmentally sustainable manner. Prior to this, Mr Rustagi worked at Standard Charted Bank as Senior Director, Project Finance, South Asia and financed several wind and solar projects in India. Other previous job stints include working at National Australia Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and ICICI Securities where he was responsible for debt financing of energy and infrastructure projects. He holds an MBA degree from London business School and IIM Ahmedabad in addition to BE Mechanical from Delhi Technological University.

Member – Working group on Bio Fuels, MoP&NG

Member – Apex committee on Methanol Economy – NITI Aayog

Chairman – Task force on Methanol production from Biomass/MSW and sources other than Coal

Chairman – Study Steering Committee on Biomass availability – DST-TIFAC

Other work experiences

Chairman – Working group on Bio Fuels, MoP&NG between June 2015- June 2018

Chairman – Karnataka State Bio Fuel Development Board 2010-13

Chairman – Task force on Bio Fuels, Karnataka 2008-10

President – CEO : C Cube Electronics 1997-2014

Country Manager : Arrow Electronics Inc, 1983-1996

Dr Yongping Zhai has been working on energy development in Asia and Africa for more than 25 years. He is currently Chief of Energy Sector Group of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in charge of overall energy policy coordination and technical support to ADB energy sector operations. He is also in charge of developing energy sector knowledge work for ADB and interacts with worldwide energy sector partners.

Prior to his current position, Dr Zhai was Director of South Asia Energy Division (2010-2015), ADB, covering energy sector operations in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. In this capacity, he led the support of ADB support to renewable energy, energy efficiency and power trade in South Asia. He also served as ADB’s Lead Energy Specialist (2008-2010), in charge of the energy sector in Southeast Asia including Indonesia, Philippines, and the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). In particular, he was instrumental in leading ADB’s support to the power sector’s successful restructuring process in the Philippines. Moreover, Dr. Zhai has played a key role in promoting power trade and cooperation in GMS. 

From 1993 to 2000, Dr Zhai was a Principal Program Coordinator/Public Utilities Economist at the African Development Bank (AfDB) in charge of energy projects in Southern African Development Community (SADC). Between 1990 and 1993, he served as an Assistant Professor at the Energy Technology Division (Energy Policy and Planning), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand. 

He graduated from the Thermal Energy Engineering Department, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (1983) and received a PhD in Energy Economics from Institute of Energy Economics and Policy, affiliated with the University of Pierre-Mendès France in Grenoble, France (1989).