Author’s Note
Mr. Prashant Choubey, a seasoned professional with almost three decades of experience, leads Human Resources and Business Development as a President at Avaada Group.
He brings a wealth of diverse experience in managing national & international business development, especially in the South and South East Asia region in the spectrum of solar, renewables, and hydro. Mr. Choubey’s other key competencies include policy advocacy, strategic HR planning, talent management, setting up & managing HR systems, policies & processes, Bid Management, Corporate PPAs, etc.
He played a significant role in taking the organization to the leader’s spot in offering sustainable renewable energy solutions to leading national and international corporates in India. Under his guidance, Avaada Group was ranked among the top 50 best companies to work for by The Times of India- Ascent. It was also ranked among the Top 10 solar companies in India by Solar Quarter magazine.
As a prolific speaker, Mr. Choubey has been prominent at numerous national and international events. He has also been instrumental in presenting papers on Renewable and Solar Energy at international conferences and forums in Austria and Turkey.
Prior to joining Avaada Group, he was associated with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and Reliance Infrastructure Limited.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions, he was honoured with the Young Engineer Award in 2001 by the Central Board of Irrigation and Power, India. An engineering graduate from the Delhi College of Engineering, Mr. Choubey is a force to be reckoned with in the renewable energy industry.
Mr. Vinoo George, a seasoned professional with over four decades of experience, heads the Manufacturing vertical as President at Avaada Group. His industry experience spans Manufacturing, Project Management, Sourcing, and International Business Development. He has been instrumental in the organization’s growth journey.
Mr. George is an unparalleled expert in building pipelines and developing large-scale projects and has been instrumental in building strong relationships with vendors and suppliers, ensuring access to the best materials and technologies available. He oversees all aspects of the manufacturing operation, including vendor selection, technology selection, manufacturing setup, product quality, supply chain, and material procurement. He has set high standards for sourcing and supply chain management, ensuring the timely commissioning of solar and wind projects.
Prior to joining Avaada Group, he was associated with BHEL and Reliance Infrastructure. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from Madras University.
Vineet Mittal is a serial entrepreneur who has built multiple large-scale businesses. After creating successful unicorns in the BPO and IT space, he floated Welspun Energy in 2010, becoming India’s largest renewable energy company with an installed base of 1.2 GW. In 2016, the platform was monetized successfully with the sale to Tata Power at a US $ 1.4 bn valuations. The Thermal power business of the group was also sold successfully to Adani Group.
He strongly believes that energy is inversely proportional to poverty. With increased energy access, India can overcome its poverty problems and provide its citizens with a better quality of life. Driven by his passion for sustainability and clean energy transition, in 2017, he floated the second platform and named it ‘Avaada’. Avaada means the Promise of a sustainable future and comes from two words, ‘Ayurveda’ and ‘Vaada’, which means the science of life and Promise, respectively.
Mr Mittal is a strong proponent of advancing sustainability through robust business models. He has been actively advocating the concepts of Community Development Certificates (CDC) and Grow Forest Certificate (GFC) with the governments he developed. Both the instruments target creating a marketplace for achieving sustainability objectives of increasing forest cover, developing social infrastructure in terms of healthcare access, education, and so on through a strong incentive mechanism.
Mr Mittal is a regular speaker on clean energy transition at important national and international events. A leading and influential industry voice, he is a regular invitee in all policy consultations by bodies like Niti Aayog, Ministries and Govt. departments, etc.
An alumnus of Harvard Business School, Mr Mittal currently holds the position of Chairman of the CII sub-committee on Hydrogen usage and standards, Chair of the CII National Council on climate change and Chair of the ‘Make in India’ Task Force. In 2012 and 2014, Vineet was conferred with the “Solar Man of the Year” title. He is an active member speaker at World Economic Forum. He is on B20’s task force for financing growth and infrastructure and Energy, Resource Efficiency & Sustainability. He is also the former India Chair of the World Business Council of Sustainable Development (WBCSD) ‘s Renewables Low Carbon Technology platform program.
