I believe that start-ups will drive the next wave of growth in the country. On the Government’s part, several changes have been implemented to assist in the growth of these start-ups, such as tax advantages, relaxations in other labour standards, and so on. More can be done, given the current situation and the air of uncertainty. A few changes that include - reduced interest rates, easier access to finance/funds, lower land prices, and government tenders with sole sourcing from start-ups can make a difference in the smooth functioning of SME and MSME communities.

In an exclusive interaction series with startup companies in the energy and mobility space, Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India, interacted with Mayank Jain, Director, Crayon Motors. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

Demand for low-emission fuels is expected to grow rapidly, driven by the need for energy-dense, lower-carbon fuels transportation such as aviation, marine and heavy-duty trucking. So we are focusing on growing our lower-emission fuels business by leveraging current technology and infrastructure, in addition to continuing research in advanced biofuels that could provide improved longer-term solutions through upgrading lower-value bio-based feedstock, disclosed Rupinder Paintal, Director – Market Development, ExxonMobil Lubricants Pvt. Ltd., in conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Mr. Paintal also discussed about the company’s plans on the low carbon solutions amid rising demand, its products offerings for the power sector, key challenges of the wind industry, India’s pathway for achieving net-zero emission goals, etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

Carbon credit will increasingly become an important solution for climate action. Consequently, carbon credit pricing will also increase as the demand for it soars in times to come. As more and more businesses and organizations become active in cutting emissions using offsets, carbon markets are becoming increasingly robust and attractive. India is expected to witness a drastic change in its carbon markets in the next one to three years as the increasing number of businesses join the climate action bandwagon, opined Manish Dabkara, CMD & CEO, EKI Energy Services Ltd, in conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Mr. Dabkara also discussed how his company is helping organisations in cutting carbon footprints, how smart cities can generate revenue while reducing carbon emissions, etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

As an established player in Power T&D and Solar Segment in India, the business unit is targeting to reach Rs 2,000 crore worth of orders in the T&D, Renewable and Railway Segment in the next two years. The business has recently commissioned several substation projects up to 400kV across India including the tough terrain of the northeast. Going forward, we plan to expand our capacity by building 765kV substations within two years. We are also aiming for portfolio expansion of up to Rs 1,000 crore by next year of which, Rs 500 crore would be allocated to Railways, Rs 300 crore in Ground-mounted solar and about Rs 200 crore in overseas business opportunities, disclosed Raghavendra Mirji, Senior Vice President & Head – Power Infrastructure & Renewable Energy (PIRE), Godrej Electricals & Electronics, in conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Mr. Mirji also discussed about the company’s expansion plans, its offerings for the power sector, key challenges of the industry etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

With the highest hydrogen-to-carbon ratio of any liquid fuel, methanol is a superior hydrogen carrier that supports the faster development of hydrogen economies by enabling the adoption of hydrogen as a fuel today. Thus, any investments in India’s methanol economy would be an investment in the hydrogen economy of the future. Fuel cells power by methanol can extend the range of a battery-electric vehicle from 200 km to over 1,000 km. It acts as a battery range extender that can be refuelled in a very short time, says Gregory A. Dolan, CEO, Methanol Institute, in conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Mr. Dolan also discussed about the benefits of renewable methanol for Indian economy, its availability, utilization areas, competitiveness, demand, etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

There is always a scope to be any industry you want to be in. But when it comes to the green energy sector, women need to participate more because they bring a value that is unique. They bring more sensitivity, creativity, progress, sustainability, innovation in their own ways. Today we have to match the pace with this demanding sector by upskilling ourselves constantly. We are energy ourselves and it would be the best to contribute to the energy sector as this is a transformational decade and will lead to creating a cleaner, greener, sustainable energy envelope on earth for next generations and women will have to do it.

On International Women’s Day, in an exclusive interaction series with women influencers in the power sector, Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India, interacted with Dr. Rashi Gupta, Managing Director, Vision Mechatronics. Here’re some edited excerpts from that interaction:

There is an urgent need to upgrade India’s grid infrastructure that can withstand vulnerabilities caused due to natural and man-made challenges. The legacy electricity grids experience high losses and frequent outages, both of which are intensified by the inability of their existing technology to communicate breakdowns in real-time. Upgrading or modernizing the grid should be the sector’s top priority to improve efficiency and make India’s vision of power for all a reality. Improving the physical reach of electricity combined with efforts to reduce energy losses due to transmission will help improve the finances of DISCOMS as well, believes Mili Majumdar, Managing Director of Green Business Certification Institute Pvt Ltd (GBCI), India and Senior Vice President of U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), in conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Ms. Mili also discussed about the benefits of green building certification, its evaluation parameters, key challenges, skilling need, etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

Undoubtedly, Li-ion battery technology stands as an undefeated king, but its limitations – like that of safety concerns and supply-chain constraints must not be overlooked. Overcoming the current batteries’ barriers is the need of the hour.

Sustainable energy storage technology with deep commercial penetration is an untapped market, both in India and globally. Our unique ZincGel battery technology aims to outperform conventional battery technology in terms of power density, battery life, energy efficiency and cost.

In an exclusive interaction series with startup companies in the energy and mobility space, Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India, interacted with Tejas Kusurkar, Co-founder & CEO, Offgrid Energy Labs, an IIT-Kanpur incubated startup. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

After many iterations to our energy storage system, we have developed a battery that uses abundant and affordable materials, which provides flexibility, scalability and a stable materials supply chain. Our battery’s architecture provides the same long-duration characteristics of redox flow batteries, but at a fraction of the cost, discussed Ron MacDonald, President & CEO, Zinc8 Energy Solutions, in conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Ron also discussed about the current and future market trends in the energy storage sector, his company’s Zinc-Air Battery technology, future business plans, etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

Almost all of our raw materials are taxed but the finished good i.e. panel is duty free! which eventually makes domestic panel expensive. There is a sort of policy paralysis for this sector, we need strong long-term policy so that the sector can flourish and with big players foray into green energy business India’s renewable energy ambitions will get a boost. Our market is still dominated by import in this sector and there is lot of scope for new big players who will drive the pace and India will become an exporter rather than an importer of solar components, opined Manish Gupta, Managing Director, Insolation Energy, in an exclusive conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Gupta also shared about his company’s future expansion plans, latest product offerings, suggestions to boost the power sector etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

The Central Government needs to act as guarantor for all power projects which are underwritten with State Discoms. This will ensure that even if State defaults, the Central Government can step in. Consider renewable energy lending as a separate book and not to club with overall energy sector exposure (as a significant part of lending by Banks/NBFCs is for thermal/hydro and non-renewable energy-based companies), believes Deepak Ushadevi, Managing Director & CEO, Ciel & Terre India, in an exclusive conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Ushadevi also shared about his company’s journey in India, future business plans for India, bottlenecks in the power sector etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

Indian policy makers need to focus on Solar Rooftop Systems with storage options (i.e., Solar Hybrid systems), rather than the rooftop solar grid-connected system. If all state governments will give more importance to Solar Rooftop battery backup system that will mean solar storage solutions price will also reduce drastically similar to grid-connected solar rooftop systems, opined Balasubramanian T, Technical Pre sales – APAC, GoodWe, in an exclusive conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Balasubramanian also discussed about his company’s latest product offerings, promising technologies, quality check parameters, R&D facilities, expectations etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

I think it’s one of the best times to be starting a company in India as India is in a transition phase moving from analog to digital age, fossil fuel to renewable age, carbon-intensive to carbon-neutral age. I think that a government sufficiently acknowledges that and has been undertaking a lot of initiatives to uplift the startup community in India. But I think that the government must do a better job of communicating their startup policies and initiatives to those who need them the most.

In an exclusive interaction series with startup companies in the energy and mobility space, Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India, interacted with Sachin Sengar, Founder & CEO of Lowsoot. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

There is a lot of support for every new start-up (like grants for creating demos, tax sops, etc). However, there needs to be a Ministry-level (e.g. Power, Industries, etc) mandate to accept and utilize Indian products. There are cases of some large companies only dealing with large global competitors.

In an exclusive interaction series with startup companies in the energy and mobility space, Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India, interacted with Rahul Raghunathan, Co-Founder of ExactSpace. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

Lord’s has initiated talks with a joint venture (JV) partner to set up an EV charging station manufacturing unit which will have advanced manufacturing facilities and will comply with the best global standards. We intend to set up one of the biggest EV charging station manufacturing units in the country which would be an Export Oriented Unit (EOU), disclosed Sachidanand Upadhyay, CEO and Director, Lord’s Mark Industries Pvt Ltd, in an exclusive conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Upadhyay also shared about his company’s future business plans for India, various product offerings, industry expectations, etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

The reforms on the transmission and distribution side have not kept pace. Driving reforms in the distribution sector will provide depth and clarity to the market from a demand point of view so that every unit of supply capacity can meet demand requirements while getting compensated for it in a timely and efficient manner, discussed Mahesh Makhija, Director - Business Development & Commercial (Renewables), Apraava Energy, formerly known as CLP India, in an exclusive conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Makhija also shared about his company’s investments in India, future business plans for India, bottlenecks in the power sector etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

The key to lowering the cost of an electric vehicle is through bringing down the cost of the battery because it contributes to a highly significant cost component of the vehicle. We believe that technology and rapidly increasing production volume will contribute to the downward movement of EV prices.

In an exclusive interaction series with startup companies in the energy and mobility space, Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India, interacted with Rajat Verma, Co-Founder of Lohum. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

The main barrier of the energy storage market is the high price of lithium batteries, lack of business model in some regions, and surely the installation and maintenance difficulty of the energy storage system is another constructive factor. However, the market is changing as new solar energy is becoming the main source of grid energy, many countries and regions started to encourage battery storage, especially the distributed energy storage system, and created a profitable business model, believes Lisa Zhang, Marketing Director, Growatt, in an exclusive conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Zhang also shared about her company’s latest product offerings for Indian customers, various quality checks performed before final delivery to customers etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

The Production Linked Incentive scheme announced by the Government is a welcome step in the right direction. However, the minimum eligibility criteria is 1,000 MW of manufacturing capacity in the PLI scheme. This means that only the big corporates can take advantage of it. We request the Government of India to reduce this cap so that the MSME sector can also participate in this scheme and become a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat, opined Akhilesh Kumar Jain, Director, Insolation Energy, in an exclusive conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Jain also shared about his company’s expansion plans in near future, expectations from the Govt, product offerings etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction:

We have made a total investment of about Rs 150 crore for existing 600 MW solar modules at our Greater Noida plant. We plan to invest another Rs 150 crore for doubling this capacity and intend to have this facility in Southern India. Once there is clarity on PLI eligibility to us for manufacturing of cells, we would want to invest another Rs 800 crore in two phases for having a total cell manufacturing capacity of 1 GW, disclosed Sameer Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Jakson Group, in an exclusive conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Energetica India. Gupta also shared about his company’s future business plans for India, latest product offerings, expectations etc. Here’re the edited excerpts from that interaction: