Adarsh Nagarajan
Principal Researcher and Group Manager
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Adarsh Nagarajan is the Group Manager of the Distribution Edge Group in the Grid Planning and Analysis Center with a focus on advanced power systems research relating to fast changing energy systems. His experience encompasses computer modeling of power systems; grid integration of distributed energy resources; modeling, control, and monitoring of energy storage systems; and the design, system integration, control and dynamics, protection, and seamless grid integration of low-inertia systems (i.e., microgrids).

Ashish Sahay
Country Manager and Sales Director
Wirepas

Ashish Sahay comes with a 25 Plus years of diverse experience in Project Management as well as Consulting Roles in Solutions around Smart Metering, Automatic Meter Reading, Revenue Management and IT Initiatives in Power Distribution in India. Currently he is heading Wirepas India, one of the leading RF Solution providers. Wirepas has shaken the India market, by enabling any “local Indian company” with limited skills and investments to become an “AMI solution provider”. Many new AMI solution providers have generated competition, which has improved the cost structure of the systems and delivered best performance on the field. During the last 15 years, Wirepas has made significant improvements in RF Mesh performance for massive scale deployments. Innovations in RF Mesh by Launching the “5G RF Mesh” - Non Cellular 5G.

Jemma Green
Co-Founder and Chairman
Powerledger

Dr Jemma Green is Co-Founder and Chairman of Powerledger, a tech company that uses blockchain for energy and environmental commodity trading. Setting her career trajectory early on, Dr Green became the voice of sustainability and corporate social responsibility in the business of big money financing while at J.P. Morgan in London. She then went on to become a research fellow at Curtin University, was Deputy Lord Mayor of Perth, set up Australia's first fossil fuel free pension fund‎ and has sat on numerous boards championing sustainable business. In 2016 Jemma co-founded Powerledger, which won Sir Richard Branson’s Extreme Tech Challenge. In 2018 Jemma was made EY Fintech Entrepreneur of the Year.

KR Jyothilal
Principal Secretary – Energy
Kerala

Shri Jyothilal IAS, a 1993 batch IAS officer is currently the Principal Secretary, Transport Department, Government of Kerala and Vice- Chairman, Kerala Metropolitan Transport Authority. Armed with a B Tech from IIT Madras and MBA from ICFAI, Mr. Lal has earlier been the Collector of Trivandrum and Kannur, and held portfolios in IT, Transport, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Food and Civil Supplies, GAD, Tourism, Devaswom, Parliamentary Affairs, Ports, Aviation, Excise among others. He has been instrumental in projects related to hitech agriculture, Smart City Kochi, KMRL, KMTA, Kannur airport, e-mobility and hydrogen economy etc.

Manan Thapar
Director, Energy & Utilities
RTI

Manan is a Power sector professional having more than 21+ years of experience in the energy & utilities sector across Power distribution, Energy Transition, Impact Assessment and Policy & Regulatory, Renewable energy technology , electricity market & power exchange, policy reform etc. He comes with a background of working on reforms in Delhi with Tata Power Delhi (Erstwhile NDPL) and has advised many State Regulators, Donors as well as more than 15 State Discoms on Efficiency improvement, Loss reduction, distribution reforms, Energy management, Financial restructuring and Process Reengineering.

Mukesh Dadhich
Head (Business Development, Sustainability And Clean Technology)
Bses Yamuna Power Limited

Mukesh Dadhich is having professional experience of more than 23 years mainly in Power Distribution Sector. He is an Electrical Engineer from ECK Kota with an added qualification of PGDBM (Energy Management) from MDI, Gurugram. Presently Mukesh is heading Sustainability and Clean Technology and Business development functions at BSES Yamuna Power limited which is a premier power distribution utility serving over 1.8 million consumers in central and eastern parts of Delhi. He has been driving various initiatives in the areas of Renewable Energy , E-mobility, Energy Storage, New technologies, research based projects, Energy Efficiency and has been frequently involved with Govt agencies and think tanks on policy front. He has in depth experience in utilities domain and has been instrumental in bringing in innovative technologies and programs related to managed charging solutions, auto demand response, renewable energy generation forecasting, urban microgrids and is keenly working on bringing in decarbonizing framework for power distribution utilities. Under his leadership BYPL is contributing greatly to development of EV charging infrastructure in the license area and beyond.

Rajan N Khobragade
Chairman and Managing Director
Kerala State Electricity Board Limited

Rajan is currently working as a Chairman and Managing Director at Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL). Khobragade, is a 1993 batch IAS officer. Khobragade, who was health secretary during the COVID-19 outbreak, was posted as Secretary, Water Resources.

Reena Suri
Executive Director
India Smart Grid Forum

Reena Suri, Executive Director with India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) since 2013, brings over 19 years of experience in the Energy Sector. She is responsible for the research projects, advisory services, business development, training and capacity building programs, customer outreach activities, member’s relations and finances of ISGF. Reena has contributed to the various advisory services, whitepapers and research reports of ISGF such as: Implementation Plan for Electrification of Public Transportation in Kolkata City; Smart Grid Handbook for Regulators and other Stakeholder; Blockchain for Electric Utilities; Energy Storage Roadmap for India; Smart Grid Roadmap for Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd; Development of Roadmap for Implementation of Smart Grid – Concepts, Practices and Technologies in SAARC Region; Study on Infrastructure and Enabling Environment for Road Electric Transport in SAARC Member States; and World Bank EV Project: EV Ecosystem Support for Kolkata.

Reena is the founder-editor of the Smart Grid Bulletin published by ISGF since January 2014 which has online circulation of over 50,000 senior professionals in 100+ countries. As an outreach specialist, she has been involved in development of the Customer Outreach programs for the utilities implementing the Smart Grid projects in India. The outreach program helps the utilities to educate the project benefits to the customers well in advance of the start of project implementation. Reena is also responsible for designing and delivering training and capacity building programs on various domains of Smart Grids for Policy Makers, Regulators and Utility Officials. Reena is instrumental in making the India Smart Grid Knowledge Portal (www.indiasmartgrid.org), one of the most popular portals on smart grids globally.

Reena has worked with ISGF Board to conceive, design, develop and the successful delivery of ISGF’s Annual Event, India Smart Utility Week (ISUW, www.isuw.in) since 2015. She is the principal show director of ISUW which in a short span has grown to be the signature event on Smart Grids and Smart Cities around the world.

Reji Kumar Pillai
President, India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF)
Chairman, Global Smart Energy Federation (GSEF)

Reji is the President of India Smart Grid Forum (www.indiasmartgrid.org) since its inception in 2011 and is also the Chairman of Global Smart Grid Federation since November 2016. He an internationally renowned expert with nearly four decades of experience in the electricity sector in diverse functions covering the entire value chain and across continents. He is spearheading a mission to leverage technology to transform the electric grid in India and provide clean and reliable electricity to every citizen 24x7 at affordable cost. He is actively advocating for the “Right to Electricity Act” that will ensure lifeline supply of electricity to all citizens in India. Reji has played pivotal role in several ground breaking initiatives related to renewable energy, electric grid modernization, electric mobility, energy storage and digitalization in India during the past two decades. His current areas of research and work include: Grid Integrated Vehicles, District Cooling, Electric Cooking, Smart Grids as Anchor Infrastructure for Smart Cities, Grid Interactive Buildings and Campuses; Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Blockchain Applications for Utilities; Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Systems and the Future of Transportation; and Interconnection of Regional Grids in Asia - ASEAN, SAARC and GCC grids.

In November 2016, Reji was unanimously elected as Chairman of Global Smart Grid Federation, now renamed as Global Smart Energy Federation (GSEF), a global umbrella organization of smart grid/energy associations and utilities from 16 countries and the European Union; and headquartered in Washington DC, USA. As an entrepreneur, Reji has built successful enterprises in India and overseas and exited them. He has studied Engineering, Finance, Management and Law; worked with NTPC and IBM and has been senior consultant with ADB, World Bank and USAID. A recognized thought leader in clean energy, smart grid technologies, smart cities and electric mobility, Reji is a popular key-note speaker at international symposiums and conferences on these domains. He has also contributed to several articles, books, research reports and white papers on variety of topics.

Ravi Seethapathy
Executive Chairman
Biosirus Inc.

Ravi Seethapathy, is Executive Chairman of Biosirus Inc., Canada and a Corporate Director of Larsen & Toubro’s - Power Transmission & Distribution (IC), India. He also serves as the “Ambassador for the Americas”, for the Global Smart Energy Federation, USA, and as an Advisor to the India Smart Grid Forum. With over 35+ years of experience in the Energy and Power Systems area in Canada, he mentors several utilities and companies in their technology development. His is active in several IEC, CSA, GSEF, ISGF technical committees, in the areas of sustainable energy, transportation, energy storage, microgrid and e-mobility. He is an invited speaker internationally and has co-authored over 50 technical papers and 35 published articles. His former Corporate Directorships include Toronto Atmospheric Fund, Smart Grid Canada, Ryerson University, TV Ontario, Scarborough Hospital, and as Chairs of Engineers Without Borders Canada, Canadian Club of Toronto, and Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce. He is a Life Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering; a Life Senior Member of the IEEE; and a registered Professional Engineer in Ontario. He has been honoured with several awards/citations including the Life Member Service Award, IEEE Toronto (2021); and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He/ his family has endowed an IEEE PES/IAS Award in Rural Electrification Excellence. He holds a B. Tech (Hons) in Electrical Power from IIT, India, an M. Eng. in Electrical Power from University of Toronto and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto.

Rahul Tongia
Senior Fellow
CSEP

Rahul Tongia is a Senior Fellow with CSEP in New Delhi, where his work focuses on technology and policy, especially for sustainable development. He leads the Energy, Natural Resources,and Sustain ability group at CSEP,and is also active in broader issues of technology. Tongia’s works pans the entire energy and electricity,with focuses on supply options including renewable energy (covering finance, grid integration, etc.); smart grids, which use innovative information and communications technology to improve management of the electric utility grid; Issues of access and quality and broader issues of reforms and regulations, including electricity pricing.He is also a non-resident Senior `Fellow at the Bookings Institution, and Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and was the founding Technical Advisor for the Government of India’s Smart Grid Task Force.

Sainath Bandhakavi
Senior Solutions Architect – Public Sector
Amazon Web Services

Sainath Bandhakavi leads Solutions Architecture for Power & Utilities industry at Amazon Internet Services Private Limited. In this role, he works with Public sector Utilities, Start-ups and AWS partners to help build and modernize industry solutions on AWS by leveraging the power of cloud. Sainath comes with over two decades of experience of working with customers in utilities and smart cities domain in various roles including Solutions Architect, Strategy Consultant, Process Consultant, Project Manager. His recent assignments were around smart metering, utilities billing and customer care, smart cities solutions, advanced analytics etc. Prior to joining Amazon, he worked with IBM in their Global CoC for Energy, Environment & Utilities team supporting customers in India and abroad. He also worked with Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited in developing and implementing solutions to improve efficiency of internal processes.