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00:00India's growth of energy demand is such that we cannot in the short term, meet all of that renewable energy, irrespective of how hard we are pushing growth right now. So some part of the balance have to be met by coal for the near term. But I think by 2035 or so, I think we reach a level of renewables addition that we won't actually need coal and we can then start replacing coal. So by 2045, by 2050, will, you know, coal would have gone down substantially and renewables will form the large part of the grid and maybe nuclear and hydro and so on. So I think give us a little bit of time and we'll get to a point where our energy system will be fundamentally driven by clean energy. And that will also, by the way, have a massive benefit for India because it'll decrease our dependence on imports of fossil fuels. Today, India pays almost $200 billion every year for imported fossil fuels, which is a big Achilles heel of India's economy. Now, all of that will get addressed, and I think the government recognizes that. And Prime Minister Modi has been pushing forward the whole issue of energy independence through renewables very substantially. So so what you start with you in 2011. I imagine there are many ups and downs. First of all, was how difficult was it to convince that the future for Indian energy was green? You know, when you start a business, any business, I would imagine, you know, in the beginning phase, you're not really thinking about what's going to happen to you. Or 15 years later, you're thinking about what might happen to 15 days later. And so the challenges are very immediate. And so when I started, my intention was to just set up a, you know, a reasonable business and and then grow it depending on how things would evolve. So I would say for the first two or three years, we were just looking to try to prove the fact that as a company, we could actually get projects executed, that we could raise capital for it and those kinds of things. It's only subsequently after we got to a certain size three or four years into our journey that I really started sort of putting my head over water and looking at the future. And and at that time, the futures started seeming a lot brighter than what I had, you know, been able to anticipate until that time. And I think then in 2014 was a bit of a turning point in India, because that's when this government came in and Prime Minister Modi came in. And I think he totally changed the entire thinking around climate change in India and went from a defensive posture to a much more, I think, open, positive view on how to deal with climate change and totally revise the targets on renewables and that really what has allowed us to grow substantially.

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Modi Recognizes India's Energy Challenge, Says ReNew CEO

Sumant Sinha, the founder and CEO of ReNew Energy, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government have totally changed the thinking around climate change in India. "India pays almost $200 billion every year for imported fossil fuels, which is a big Achilles heel of India's economy," Sinha says during an interview on Leaders With Lacqua Goes Green on Bloomberg Television. "I think the government recognizes that," he adds. "Modi has been pushing forward the whole issue of energy independence through renewables very substantially." (Source: Bloomberg)

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The only daily news program focused exclusively on technology, innovation and the future of business from San Francisco. Hosted by Emily Chang.
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