Que: What gender gaps do you see in the current policies within the energy sector?

Ans: Let's be clear: India’s energy policies are world-class in ambition. We’re targeting 500 GW of non-fossil capacity, pushing for 30 percent EV sales by 2030, and our frameworks have rightly made us a top-five global solar power.
But here is the stark reality: these world-class policies have a dangerous blind spot. This isn't just an issue for India; it's a pattern across the Global South, where women remain severely underrepresented in the new EV and green workforces due to persistent barriers. The fundamental gender gap I see isn't a small detail in the policy fine print; it's that gender doesn't exist to begin with in our energy policy.

Look at the evidence. The National Solar Mission has no targets for women as technicians or entrepreneurs. The FAME India scheme has no provisions to include them in manufacturing or servicing. And while we must appreciate the rare exceptions, like the consumer-based incentives for women EV buyers in states like Assam and Chandigarh—a positive first step—they still frame women as consumers, not as core participants. Even the PM Surya Ghar scheme positions women as passive consumers, not as active builders of our green future.

The real tragedy is that we have successful models we aren't using. The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) is a powerful tool that legally mandates 33 percent of trainees must be women, but its potential remains vastly underutilised for core green energy roles.

And while it's highly appreciable that India led the Global South in creating a dedicated Skill Council for Green Jobs, the framework itself is gender-blind. The qualification packs, the outreach, the curriculum—it's all male-centric. We haven't designed training centres with the facilities women need. We haven't created subsidised courses specifically to bring them in. It's almost as if it never occurred to us to see the transition from that lens.

This creates a default image in our minds. When you imagine someone in a yellow hard hat repairing a solar panel on a roof in rural Rajasthan, you imagine a man. Why? Because the entire system—from policy to skilling—has been designed that way.
So, the solution isn’t just about adding women to support roles. The real change is about mandating their inclusion in core technical leadership. My vision is simple and non-negotiable: no subsidy without inclusion. Any company receiving public funds must be required to meet clear, audited targets for women in technical and leadership positions. That is how we move from a gender-blind policy to a truly gender-just transition.

Que: Have you personally encountered unconscious bias in your career? How was it handled (or not handled)?

Ans: If I say no, never—it would be a moment to record in history!

Absolutely. You know, when I started my career in 2018, I was idealistic. I believed that in the 21st century, in an India positioning itself as a global leader, ideas were what mattered, not gender. It took a hard reality check to understand that just isn't true. This isn't just an Indian story; global research from McKinsey shows that nearly half of women in technical roles feel their expertise is questioned.

I experienced this firsthand. I proposed a detailed plan: EV charging stations, electrifying the company fleet, and a new public-facing business venture. It was a solid, comprehensive idea. And it vanished into a corporate black hole. Ten months later, a senior male colleague proposed the very same idea, and suddenly, it was a stroke of genius. There were meetings, action plans, and a flurry of activity.

And you start to question everything, down to your bones. Was my idea not worth it? Was it not good enough? Or was it my rank? Of course, hierarchy plays a role. But I learned a tough lesson: when you add gender to that hierarchy, the situation worsens exponentially.

The bias that was most disappointing, however, was when I started my free EV skilling programme. I was on my own, no team. And the skepticism was brutal. The questions were never about my curriculum; they were about my gender. 'How can you, as a woman, know all this?'' Who taught you this without a formal education?' 'How can you, a female, train students in a core technical field?'
What sense does that make? Questioning my degrees would have been more acceptable to me, but questioning my gender? I had to prove myself every single day, putting in twice the effort a man would need. Just another woman's story in the core tech field in the world's fastest-growing economy, no?

As these heads were the only links that connected me to the youth I wanted to reach, I had to go through them. That’s when I made a conscious shift. I realised I could spend my energy trying to convince skeptics, or I could focus on my mission and build a community with allies. I chose the latter. I found people who supported me proactively because I was a woman breaking barriers, and the other ones who supported me because of the gravity of my merit and work. I appreciate both.
So yes, bias is real. It hits you in the bones. It makes you question everything.

But the most powerful response isn’t to argue. It’s to find your allies, build your work, and create a reality that no one can ignore. Not the entire spectrum is male-dominated; there are people who see merit, not gender, when collaborating with a visionary.
Find them, work with them, and make your ideas unstoppable.

Que: What do you think are the most common structural barriers preventing women from advancing in this sector?

Ans: The barriers are everywhere, but they start with a fundamental flaw in our thinking. We are still asking women to prove themselves in a system that was never built for them in the first place.

Let's get practical. We can train a brilliant woman to lead a solar project, but the real question is: is the site itself ready for her? Does it have a safe, clean washroom with proper sanitary facilities? Is there secure accommodation? We're not talking about luxuries; we're talking about basic requirements for existence. And even if you provide all that, if a woman leads a project on-site, are the male subordinates ready to follow her orders and decisions without thinking, 'What does she know about these things?'

This is a systemic issue. We see a huge mentorship gap—an IEA report shows that less than 15 percent of energy leadership roles are held by women globally. We see a male-centric skilling system where companies hesitate to hire women for field jobs in the first place.

But I want to talk about a barrier we rarely discuss in policy circles: our refusal to acknowledge biological reality. It is highly appreciable and a sign of progress that states like Bihar, Odisha, and Kerala, and companies like Zomato and Culture Machine Media, have menstrual leave policies. But my concern is this: are we, as a society, confident enough to use these policies without judgment?

Will a male head grant a female subordinate two days of leave because she is on her period, without rolling his eyes or making a judgment? The concept of childcare leave is still seen by many as a 'privilege.' So, even as we make these powerful changes, is our mindset ready to accept them? Can a woman tell her male boss she needs to take a leave because of cramping and mini heart-aches inside? Have we raised our men that way?

You cannot leave menstruation out of the context. It's an integral part of a woman's psychology and anatomy—a woman's working efficiency is impacted by her cycle. Are we ever going to consider that when judging her KPIs against her male colleague's? Will our policy frameworks ever be that intelligent? These are the real barriers.

So, the obstacles are not in women's capabilities; they are in our mindset. We don't need to make women 'equal' to men by a flawed male benchmark. We are biologically different; we are not lesser or superior, just different. The whole narrative has to change. It’s not a competition; it’s about how you extract the best out of every individual.

Until we build a smarter system that is designed for real life and real human needs, no matter how skilled a woman is, she will have to prove herself twice as much, just to be acknowledged.

Que: What kind of visibility or recognition would help amplify women’s contributions in energy?

Ans: Am I expected to give a checklist? More women on panels, more awards for R&D, and clean energy entrepreneurs?
We can do that, but let’s be brutally honest. The real recognition women need isn’t another award; it’s a fundamental shift in mindset. It starts with a basic human right: respecting an idea for its own merit. Judge the idea itself—how impactful is it? How beneficial would it be? How can we improve and implement it? Not the body parts of the person who proposed it.

Here’s a simple test. The next time a woman shares an idea, ask yourself: “How would I react if my male colleague had proposed this same thing?” Your honest answer is where real recognition begins—or ends.

This is why I’m not asking for grand 'women empowerment' shows. That’s a marketing gimmick. Empowerment celebrated for one day a year is a PR stunt—like celebrating Mother’s Day and then letting the woman die in the kitchen the other 364 days. We don’t need to be 'empowered.' We are empowered enough.

I do appreciate events that recognise women for their exemplary work. But we have to be honest about what we’re celebrating. Often, it’s recognition of resilience—succeeding in a framework designed by men, for men. Resilience matters, yes. But we need to move beyond celebrating survival and start fixing the system itself.

Here’s the deepest question: why do we even have to 'recognise' women? The entire concept is built on a flawed structure. Take the common example: celebrating a mother of two for getting her PhD. Implicitly, we’re saying her partner didn’t contribute, reinforcing the toxic idea that childcare was solely her job. Recognition framed this way can even make men bitter, as they see it as a special 'privilege.'

We need to go back to the atomic level: men and women both run the household, both raise the children, and both contribute their brilliant ideas at work. In that system, appreciation is equal, fair, and natural.

So, the visibility I’m asking for is not another award for surviving a broken system. It’s a fundamental shift—where we stop celebrating women for overcoming barriers and start removing the barriers themselves.

Que: What specific gender-responsive policies do you think would have the most immediate impact in the energy sector?

Ans: May I take the liberty to break some norms before I suggest policy? To create real impact, we have to go to the atomic level before we build the broader framework.

At the atomic level, the most impactful policy would be a mandatory national education programme for all workplaces. We need to educate our men—and women—that we are built differently, not in terms of capability, but in our psychology and biology. A woman's intellect is constant, but an intelligent leader should understand these realities to build the most efficient teams.

And this education must be mutual. It reframes the conversation from 'special accommodations for women' to 'intelligent management of a diverse team.' And this is how we address the concern that some men might feel these policies are unjust. When gender-proactive policies like childcare or menstrual leave are seen as 'special privileges' for one group, it can create a feeling of unfairness. But when they are understood as necessary components of an intelligent system designed for a diverse workforce, that feeling of injustice is replaced with mutual respect.

Now, with that human-centric understanding as our foundation, we can build the broader framework. The most impactful policies would be:
• Tie Incentives to Inclusion: Any company receiving public funds or subsidies under schemes like FAME and PLI must be required to meet audited gender targets for technical and leadership roles.
• Mandate Procurement Quotas: Require PSUs and government projects to source a set percentage of their components and services from women-owned businesses.
• Unlock Green Finance for Women: Create targeted, low-interest credit lines for women-led startups in the EV, solar, and service sectors.
• Fix the Skilling Pipeline: Expand the DDU-GKY model, with its 33 percent mandatory reservation for women, specifically for green-tech roles, and support it with safe, gender-sensitive residential facilities.

Que: How do you envision the energy sector transforming if gender-inclusive policies are truly implemented?

Ans: If gender-responsive policies are truly implemented, the transformation starts at the most human level: the team. Imagine a workplace where no one rolls their eyes when a woman requests leave because of menstrual pain, where stress is not judged but supported with empathy. That environment alone can unlock a level of dedication and efficiency that no incentive scheme could ever buy.

We become our environment. When the aura is positive and the mindset is healthy, the business booms. The World Economic Forum (2023) validates this—gender-diverse technical teams deliver 20–30 percent higher productivity in innovation-driven sectors. This is not just a statistic; it is a reminder that inclusivity accelerates innovation, which directly supports India’s ambitious 500 GW clean energy target.

And what does this look like on the ground? It means women are not confined to HR or R&D, but are seen welding, driving electric tractors, and managing complex battery storage systems. It means women engineers and technicians working shoulder to shoulder with men in automotive plants, in charging infrastructure, and in renewable energy labs. This isn’t just about jobs—it’s about bringing new creativity and perspectives that lead to breakthrough solutions.

The ripple effects go even further. A supportive policy environment can translate into a surge of women-owned enterprises in EVs, solar, and energy storage, creating not just employees but job creators. It connects clean energy growth with women’s economic empowerment—a true just transition.

Ultimately, India itself becomes an example to the world. A country where women and men innovate shoulder to shoulder sets a benchmark not only for clean energy but for inclusive growth. This won’t just give us megawatts—it will give us healthier teams, healthier families, and healthier generations. Because when you uplift a woman, you uplift an entire generation.

Que: What message would you give to younger women aspiring to join India’s clean energy mission?

Ans: My message is this: this is your space to claim, and you must own it with everything you have.

First, believe in your foundation. My mantra has always been: believe in your hard work, true intentions, and dedication. There will always be people who question your capability. They will ask, "Do you even have the degree?" or "What can one woman do?" Let them ask. Your actions will answer them better than any words ever could.

Second, find your fight. The green technology ecosystem is massive. Don't try to do everything. Explore widely, but then narrow your focus and build your skills relentlessly. Your technical expertise is a critical entry point; certifications matter. Get your hands dirty in pilot programmes and government schemes—that’s where you get real, career-launching experience. Once you find the field that resonates with you, hunt that aim down like a tigress.

Third, work with your design, not against it. Women are not lesser or superior; we are built differently. Learn to align your day-to-day energy with your natural cycle. This isn't a weakness; it's an intelligent way to thrive, not just survive. Never forget that being a woman is your advantage—you are biologically created to build.
And finally, uplift others as you rise. When you learn, teach. When you succeed, mentor someone behind you. Seek out your mentors and allies, because as the research shows, a strong network is crucial. This is how we don't just build careers—we build a community of change-makers.

Don’t just ask for a seat at the table—go out and build a new one. Build it so strong that the old table becomes irrelevant. Let your legacy be this: you didn’t just learn to survive in a system built by men, you built a smarter, fairer system for everyone.