INDUSTRY JEWEL: Simarpreet Singh, Director, Hartek Group

Education and Background

After doing his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering in 2011, Mr Simarpreet Singh did his industrial training with French multinational Schneider Electric, an exposure which honed him professionally, before joining the family business and taking it to newer heights. He completed his post graduation in Entrepreneurship, Financial Management and Business Strategy from the prestigious SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, and also done a specialised course in Executive Education in Finance from the London School of Business.

Work experience

Besides leading the strategy operations of the Hartek Group as Director, Mr Simarpreet Singh is the Founder-Director of Hartek Solar Pvt Ltd, a rooftop solar vertical of Hartek Group, and Hartek India Pvt Ltd, another manufacturing arm of the Group.

Driven by a resolve to contribute significantly to the Indian power sector value chain, Mr Simarpreet Singh has led from the front to turn the Hartek Group into one of India’s fastest growing conglomerates and chart its growth story in the manufacturing and rooftop solar domains. He has spread the umbrella of Brand Hartek wide by founding two successful companies in a short span of time. Under his stewardship, Hartek Solar emerged among the first companies in India to launch customised rooftop solar kits for home users equipped with a unique remote sensing technology, which have received a tremendous response. Mr Simarpreet made the remote sensing technology, which has largely remained confined to large rooftop solar installations owing to its non-viability for small-scale solar from the business viewpoint, commercially feasible for small-scale plants as well by linking it with consumers’ Wi-Fi or GPRS SIM card so that they could get alerts on cleaning and maintenance as well as real-time data on energy generation and savings. 

Current Work Goals and Achievements

Simarpreet Singh has made it to the coveted Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list of achievers for taking up the fight against climate change through Hartek Solar and its innovative small-scale solar solutions. As the chairperson of the PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (PHDCCI) Power and Renewable Energy Committee for the Northern region, Simarpreet is the Association’s youngest ever office-bearer.

He was awarded the prestigious SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) Award in 2017 in the category of new ventures for successfully launching two companies, Hartek India and Hartek Solar, and creating sustainable infrastructure in the country. 

A passionate public speaker, Simarpreet has addressed students in over 20 colleges in the last two years, including the prestigious IIMs, mentoring them on entrepreneurship, leadership and marketing strategy. He is also at the forefront of delivering talks in schools and colleges to create awareness about the need to adopt clean energy. A regular guest faculty at nationally reputed institutes of professional education like the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management and SPJIMR in Mumbai and IIM in Amritsar. Simarpreet constantly motivates young entrepreneurs and business professionals to pursue their dreams. As a mentor and brand ambassador of Chandigarh University, he is also working on building a framework for the curriculum and motivating young students through inspirational talks and webinars.He even runs his own YouTube channel, where he delivers motivational talks, shares his views on issues concerning the industry and conducts interviews with inspirational achievers under the Passion Series.

Industry Outlook

Though many rating agencies have downgraded the power sector’s outlook from stable to negative owing to the decline in power demand, this will only be a short-term effect as the demand for electricity is slowly but surely returning to normal. There is every reason for optimism if we look at things from a long-term perspective. The Rs 90,000-crore liquidity infusion programme announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the government’s special thrust on achieving the avowed objective of “Power for All” are likely to have a positive impact on the power industry by stimulating demand and augmenting new capacity additions. Renewable energy, together with the Centre’s ambitious plan to upgrade the T&D infrastructure, is poised to play a greater role in the growth story of the Indian power sector in coming years. The government has already drawn a comprehensive roadmap to achieve a renewable energy capacity of 227 GW by 2022, which will include 114 GW of solar power and 67 GW of wind energy. Large solar parks, assisted by the “rent a roof” policy for rooftop solar, will go a long way in achieving this target.