From Policy to Pitch: Energy and Climate Tech Takes Centre Stage at Startup Mahakumbh Day 2

New Delhi, April 4, 2025 – Day 2 of Startup Mahakumbh brought the spotlight to India’s growing climate innovation space, with a high-energy showcase at the Energy and Climate Tech Pavilion. Shri Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa and Former CEO of NITI Aayog visited the Pavillion. He reiterated the government’s commitment to nurturing a future-ready climate tech ecosystem.

The Pavilion also hosted Shri Sanjiv Singh, Joint Secretary at the Department for Promotion of Industries and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the head of Startup India initiative, who praised the startups for integrating innovation with sustainability. His visit reinforced the strategic importance of energy and climate tech within India’s broader startup policy framework.

The day began with a workshop by Meyyappan Nagappan, Partner at Trilegal, and Rohan Ghalla from Spectrum Impact, offering practical insights into legal, financial, and capital structuring for early-stage ventures. This was followed by a compelling panel on “Climate Tech Adaptation and Resilience,” moderated by Jui Joshi, Director & Senior Partner at Climate Collective. The session featured rich insights from Aavrit Singhal, Chief Product Officer, InRisk Labs; Abhay Singh, Co-founder & CEO, Eeki; Abinash Mohanty, Global Sector Head of Climate Change and Sustainability, IPE Global Limited; Ajay Lavakare, Co-President, Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs India; and Angad Daryani, Founder & CEO, Praan, Inc.

Financing for green innovation remained a key theme. In a fireside chat, Swapna Gupta, Partner at Avaana Capital, noted that “There is ample patient capital available to build sustainable businesses in India. For startups, understanding where they are in their journey is key to unlocking the right kind of support. By aligning with the most suitable sources of capital at each stage, they can accelerate their growth and create meaningful outcomes.” She was joined by Gaurav Kapoor MBE, Head of Investment Capital at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, who echoed the importance of long-term partnerships in catalyzing climate innovation, highlighting the role of sustained public-private collaboration in unlocking scalable solutions and mobilising global capital towards green transitions.

Decarbonising hard to abate industries took centre stage in a session chaired by Dr. Kushant Uppal, Founder & CEO, IndusDC Innovation Pvt. Ltd. The conversation brought together leaders such as Dr. Deepak Yadav, Senior Programme Lead, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW); Dr. Thota Chiranjeevi, Deputy General Manager, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited; Mohit Singhvi, AVP – Corporate Affairs, Chakr Innovation; Quentin Vaquette, Founding Partner, Wavemaker Impact; and Suhas Baxi, Co-founder and CEO, BiofuelCircle. The panel underlined the urgency of collaborative approaches and faster tech deployment in greening India’s industrial sector.

A panel on waste and circularity, titled “Driving Circularity: Overcoming Barriers to a Closed Loop System,” featured voices from across the ecosystem. Varun Hangloo, Head – Scale-Up & New Initiatives, Marico Innovation Foundation, moderated a thought-provoking discussion with Amit Tandon, Founder & CEO, PolyCycl Private Limited; Jitesh Dadlani, Founder & CTO, Ishitva Robotic Systems; Sanjay Khajuria, Former Director – Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Nestlé India; Satya Adamala, Vice President, Re Sustainability Limited; Shekar Prabhakar, Co-founder & CEO, Hasiru Dala Innovations; and Som Narayanan, CEO & Co-founder, Carbon Masters. The conversation called attention to India’s need for systemic infrastructure, policy support, and localised innovation in waste management.

The spotlight then shifted to materials innovation in the “Next Gen Materials” panel, moderated by Alankrita Khera, Lead – Director, ACT. Setting the tone for the discussion, she said, “Accelerated industry adoption will enable the scalability of alternative materials, but performance consistency and unit economics are key areas to solve for.” She further stressed the importance of ecosystem collaboration, adding, “If India is to lead the way on materials innovation, we need to create stronger connections between the FMCG industry and innovators to collaboratively solve for shared challenges. What we saw today was just a glimpse of what’s possible when these pieces come together”. The panel featured Biswarup Chakrabarty, VP & Head – Packaging Development, ITC Limited; Neha Jain, Founder & MD, Zerocircle; Prashanth Venkatesh, Marketing & Sustainability, Unilever; Kushal Banerjee, Chief Regional Manager, HPCL; Shruti Kutmutia, Founder, BacAlt BioSciences; and Tanmay Pandya, Founder Director, Brisil Technologies Private Limited.

The day concluded with a robust session on “Decarbonising Road Transport,” moderated by Sharvari Patki, Program Head, Electric Mobility, WRI India. Experts including Akshima Ghate, Managing Director, RMI India; Dr. Jaya Rawat, Dr. Jaya Rawat, Deputy General Manager, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited; Rutooj Deshpande, Founder and CEO, Govidyouth; and Utkarsh Mishra, Global Innovation Portfolio Head, HeroMotoCorp, explored opportunities in EVs, alternative fuels, and integrated transport solutions.

Summing up his experience Mirik Gogri, Principal, Spectrum Impact said, “Day two of Startup Mahakumbh was filled with vibrant and insightful discussions between the audience and expert panelists at the Energy and Climate Tech Pavilion. We were excited to showcase a unique concept – the Climate Wall – designed to help people better understand climate change. It was heartening to see how well it was received, with many appreciating the visual journey through the sources of emissions and the innovative solutions to address them. We believe that such initiatives can spark powerful conversations and inspire collective action for a more sustainable future.”

As the Pavilion wrapped up another power-packed day, it reflected the growing momentum of India’s climate innovation movement—driven by founders, fuelled by capital, and backed by policy. We now look forward to Day 3 with fresh ideas and deeper collaborations on the horizon.