Mahua Acharya: Green Evangelist

India's green energy drive has a globally experienced evangelist. And her motivation is special. "Having a child has been a big turning point in my career. It makes climate change and environmental stress personal. Left unaddressed, my child will grow up in Delhi's bad air," says Mahua Acharya, MD and CEO, Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), which is a joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power. Drafted in by EESL to run the brand new CESL in November 2020, Acharya's mandate is to use her two-decade-long experience in green finance, renewables and carbon markets to help India achieve its 100 GW solar power target by 2022.

And she has taken to the job with unmasked vigour. She's not only building the organisation from scratch, but also leading the company's mission to unleash a revolution for electric transportation across states, and execute a mandate for India's transition across energy verticals. Acharya is currently working on India's first digital marketplace for electric vehicles (EVs). Her initiative, MyEV, has not only enabled smooth access to consumers in Kerala for booking and buying electric two-wheelers, but also made them available at competitive prices from the comfort of their homes.

Her goal is to create a new space to develop a pricing strategy for EVs in the country. "Right now I'm only focussing on a few major topics like electric mobility, decentralised renewables and carbon markets," she says. With Acharya in charge, green India has a chance.

@PLidhoo