Renowned leaders of the energy industry came together at the Economic Times India Net Zero Forum 2023 and deliberated upon some of the most pressing issues and ideas crucial for catapulting the clean energy sector to a higher growth trajectory.
The mega event successfully concluded here with some of the top minds of the global and the domestic energy industry converging on the platform and identifying the key inputs for the next set of reforms required for the country to achieve its Net Zero goals.
The Summit, the largest such initiative from the house of The Economic Times, was organised by ETEnergyworld in partnership with Hitachi Energy, REC, Brookfield Properties, Swelect, Longi, Gautam Solar, AWS, Enfinity Global, NHPC, THDC, NLC India and StepChange.
The inaugural session of the event witnessed addresses by R P Gupta, CMD, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI); Alok Kumar, Former Secretary, Ministry of Power; Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI; and Neha Verma, Director, MInistry of Steel.
This was followed by a panel discussion on India’s 2070 Net Zero Target where participants included Ashok Kumar, Deputy DG, Bureau of Energy Efficiency; C Laxma Reddy, ED (Exploration), ONGC; Ajeya Bandyopadhyay, South-Asia Lead, Climate Change Advisory, Manufacturing, Agribusiness & Services, IFC; and K Mohan Reddy, Director, Planning & Projects, NLC India.
The event also hosted a special fireside chat between Venu Nuguri, MD and CEO – India & South Asia, Hitachi Energy and Sudheer Pal Singh, Editor, ETEnergyworld, The Economic Times. Later, a panel discussion was organised on India’s Green Credit Program with industry leaders including Vibhuti Garg, Director – South Asia, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis; Prarthana Borah, Country Director, CDP India; Ravneet Mann, Chief Strategy Officer, Stride Ventures; and Alok Verma, Senior Vice President – Business Development, Enfinity Global.
This was followed by a panel discussion on ESG in India where the participants included Sambitosh Mohapatra, Partner, ESG Leader, PwC India; Ashok Haldia, Chairman, IIPA and Former Secretary, ICAI; Dev Tripathy, Director – Finance, Philips India; Thomas Blood, Sustainability Leader – EMEA, Amazon Web Services (AWS); and Nataraj S, Senior AVP – (RE Projects), SWELECT Energy Systems.
A key highlight of the event was a discussion on Decarbonization that hosted eminent panelists including Vikas Gaba, Partner and Lead – Power & Utilities, KPMG India; R K Tyagi, Director (Operations), Power Grid; M K Srivastava, ED (Engineering), NTPC; Sachin Sharma, Chairman, Indian Green Building Council, UP Chapter; and Suman Jagdev, Partner, Xynteo.
This was followed by a Panel Discussion on Decarbonization of the Metals & Mining and Transport sectors. The panelists included Kapil Bansal, Partner – Energy Transition & Decarbonization, EY India; Ashish Kundra, Principal Secretary cum Commissioner, Transport, Government of NCT of Delhi; Prabodha Acharya, Group Chief Sustainability officer, JSW Group; Prashant K Banerjee, Chief Executive Director, SIAM; and Mayur Karmarkar, Managing Director, International Copper Association.