The Clean Energy Solutions Center, in partnership with Mission Innovation and the India Ministry of Science and Technology, hosted this webinar on accelerating clean energy innovation in India.

The webinar began with a brief overview of the Mission Innovation initiative, which aims to achieve clean energy technology performance breakthroughs and cost reductions. The 21 governments participating in Mission Innovation represent well over 80% of global public investment in clean energy research and development. Each participating government has pledged to seek to double its clean energy innovation budget over the next five years.

Following the overview of the Mission Innovation initiative, Indian officials described key policies and programs aimed at accelerating clean energy innovation. Presentations included innovative models of government-industry collaboration in transitioning new technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace.

Webinar presentations were be followed by an interactive question and answer session with the audience.

Panelists

Prakash D. Hirani

Prakash Hirani joined R&D NTPC (now NETRA) in 1991 and worked in the area of water/boiler chemistry, ambient air and stack flue gas monitoring and analysis, development of value added products from waste and fly ash, environmental science and alternative energy resources. Mr. Hirani’s areas of interest include carbon mitigation, waste-to-energy and environmental protection activities. He has seven years operation and maintenance experience at coal and gas thermal power stations, and he has worked in water/boiler chemistry, ambient air and stack flue gas monitoring and analysis, oil and lubricant, and coal sampling.

Dr. Sanjay Bajpai

Dr. Sanjay Bajpai is Associate Head of Technology Mission Division at the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. In this role, Dr. Bajpai coordinates the department’s initiatives for clean energy. He helps plan, implement and monitor the department’s foray in the area of clean energy. He is responsible for mounting up the DST’s national initiative in clean energy and shaping major bilateral programmes with the United States and United Kingdom in the areas of solar energy, building energy efficiency, energy storage, smart grids and clean energy systems. He holds a PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology- Delhi.

Dr. Renu Swarup

Dr. Renu Swarup is Senior Adviser to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). She also holds the additional charge of Managing Director, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a public sector undertaking of DBT setup to foster and nurture innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in the biotech system. A PhD in Genetics and Plant Breeding, Dr. Renu Swarup completed her post-doctoral at The John Innes Centre, Norwich UK, under Commonwealth Scholarship. She returned to India to take up the assignment of a Science Manager in DBT, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, in 1989. At DBT, she has been involved in developing, funding and monitoring programmes under the National Bioresource Development Board in the area of energy biosciences, bio resource development and utilization and plant biotechnology-bio prospecting, tissue culture and other biomass-associated programmes. As a science manager, issues related to policy planning and implementation are a part of her assignment. She was actively engaged in the formulation of the Biotechnology Vision in 2001, the National Biotechnology Development Strategy in 2007, and Strategy-II 2015–2020 as the Member Secretary of the Expert Committee. She was also a member of the Task Force on Women in Science constituted by the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Prime Minister. She is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences India, and she was awarded the “Bio Spectrum Person of the Year Award” in 2012.

Varsha Joshia

Varsha Joshia is the Joint Secretary under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India. In her current post, Ms. Joshi is involved in the policy, regulation and facilitation for onshore/offshore wind, bioenergy, geothermal, tidal and hybrid energy, human resource development, training and skills augmentation for the renewable sector. Ms. Joshi has over two decades of experience in public administration and policymaking in the geographically diverse regions of Delhi, Chandigarh and Arunachal Pradesh.