India’s potential to the global renewables matrix

Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, UBM India

REI has become very influential, promoting India’s renewable energy and attracting more than 750 exhibitors worldwide
Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, UBM India, discusses how REI has duly acquired a unique dynamism and influence as a reputed global platform and suggests that though electrification is crucial, working on the subsidised rates of electricity for SMEs would drive the nation’s growth.

The existing Indian energy sector in India is compared to the global scenario. How do you evaluate the current scenario and its growth?
In an era of accelerated change, trying to limit climate change and achieve sustainable growth is strengthening the momentum of the global energy transformation. The overall national target is to reach 100 GW of installed capacity by 2022, a huge task, given the starting point and a range of national and state-level initiatives have been announced in support of the target. Since, electricity is a shared responsibility between federal and state authorities, the political commitment of individual states to solar power is critical to the prospects for growth.

How has employment rate been in the energy sector and how is UBM India playing a role in providing jobs in the sector?
‘Skill India’ is one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet missions. In the power sector, the government’s initiative of providing training through the National Power Training Institute (NPTI).is worth mentioning. A national apex body for training and human resources development in the power sector, has trained over 2,92,061 power professionals in regular programmes over the last five decades which indirectly has a cascading effect in the growth of GDP and economy. In 2017, the renewable industry saw a 36 per cent growth in jobs as per the IRENA report, estimating around 1,64,000 job opportunities created for the industry alone. To support the government’s ambition, this year, UBM India in association with Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ), organised a Green Job Fair at the RenewX expo. This initiative catered to graduating students, working professionals, and new entrepreneurs who want to explore opportunities in the clean energy sector. The engagement provided opportunities to skilled and potential candidates to work with the leading names in the renewable energy sector across a plethora of job roles. Additionally, this year, the REI expo added a new feature on ‘Women in the renewable sector’ that discussed their perspective on technology and innovation in the RE sector.

Do you think electrification of energy demand in all regions and sectors will drive India’s growth?
India has the fifth largest electricity generating capacity and is the sixth largest energy consumer amounting for around 3.4 per cent of global energy consumption. India’s energy demand has grown at 3.6 per cent pa over the past 30 years. The consumption of the energy is directly proportional to the progress of manpower with ever growing population, improvement in the living standard of the humanity and industrialisation of the developing countries. While India is doing extremely well in terms of providing electricity to 85 per cent of the population according to the World Bank’s latest report released in May, electrification of energy would definitely help smaller cities grow. However, we still lag behind countries such as Kenya and Bangladesh when it comes to faster electrification. Although, electrification is crucial, it is not the silver bullet for the nation’s development because electrification definitely sets the base and catalyses the growth, but it cannot be the only dependent factor for improvement. Increasing the quality of power by reducing blackouts in smaller cities and working on the subsidised rates of electricity for SMEs, manufacturing sectors, and agriculture would be a great solution that will help drive the nation’s growth.

How do you gauge the role of exhibitions in creating a holistic community in the sector?
Renewable energy is definitely a game changer fueling the country’s growing economy. At this point of time, exhibitions play an important role in creating a holistic community in the sector by bringing all key stakeholders under one platform.

The REI over the years has duly acquired a unique dynamism and influence as a comprehensive and reputed global platform for the renewable energy domain addressing challenges and aiding India’s green mission. This year has been remarkable with intense global participation in the form of renowned forums such as Business Beyond Borders European, Business Technology Center (EBTC), European Commission, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Indo-Germany Energy Forum (IGEF), European Union, and more.

Some highlights of REI 2018 included the EU – India Clean Energy & Climate Days and International Matchmaking, which was organised by Business Beyond Borders (BBB), an ambitious project invoking SMEs and Clusters by Euro Chambers, which was supported by European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC). Under its aegis, a contingent of top experts and companies from the EU partnered with REI for EU Business Matchmaking Pavilion, Technical Seminars, Launch of EU-India Strategic Partnership for Implementation of Paris Agreement (SPIPA) – GIZ and more. The expo also witnessed a closed-door CEO Roundtable, which was a strategic gathering that discussed the upscaling investment environment, sustainability in policy, government initiatives and entrepreneurial landscape in the renewable energy sector. The Green Jobs Fair also adds up to being a real game changer for the growing employment in the renewable energy sector.

What role has UBM played in promoting India’s renewable energy industry?
The country has shifted the focus entirely towards clean energy after it ratified the Paris Agreement and within this eco-system, REI has become very influential, promoting India’s renewable energy and attracting more than 750 exhibitors worldwide. In the next few years, the renewable energy sector in India will boom to meet the 175 GW target by 2022, resulting in more investments, innovations and collaborations.

This is where REI plays a vital role. It is a splendid showcase of India’s potential to the global renewables matrix. Attracting over 35,000 senior industry professionals worldwide, REI has acquired unprecedented trust, reach and success as a brand in the market through strategic collaborations and renewed relationships with key government ministries, embassies and agents globally. With a plethora or unique engagement platforms such as Master Class, B2B & B2G meetings, private knowledge and technical forums, CEO Roundtables, REI pushes the frontiers of the domain.