Dhanpal Jhaveri

Dhanpal Jhaveri is the Vice Chairman of the Everstone Group. He is also the CEO of EverSource Capital which makes green and sustainable investments in India.

The 2014 General Elections was watershed moment in the history of Indian politics. Since then, Prime Minister Modi has been leading from the front, and under his guidance the Government of India has been charging forward towards the agenda of building a nation for the people, by the people; setting stage for what we are now calling the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’.  

Since his first term, Prime Minister Modi has been untiring and purposeful in addressing the climate change challenge.  The launch of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) by PM Modi in 2015 marked the beginning of a series of global and local initiatives by him toward positive climate leadership. 

Since then, PM Modi has furthered India’s commitment towards climate mitigation and resilience through strong pan-sector regulatory tailwinds, thereby India to play a leadership role in the global battle against climate change.  

India has taken several initiatives under Mr. Modi’s leadership including setting India’s renewable energy target of 160GWs installed by 2022 and 450 GWs by 2030, seeding the potential of USD 50+ billion investment in the economy via these projects.  

PM Modi has adopted a holistic approach to making India a low carbon economy, balancing the need for shifting from fossil fuel to renewable energy sources without compromising on the need to focus on rural electrification, bio-fuels and supplementing the effort with development of power sector infrastructure.  

Another major low carbon agenda for PM Modi has electrification of transportation.  14 of 20 most polluted cities globally are in India and transportation has been the second biggest carbon emission contributor towards emissions in India.  Additionally, India’s oil import bill is a major contributor (~USD 90 billion in 20181) to the country’s trade deficit making reduced dependency on oil import for transportation a priority for the country. The ambitious targets for transport electrification are supported through favorable EV charging tariffs, registration tax exemption, easier licensing regime in key states and policy support for technologic innovation in the sector like (hydrogen fuel cells, battery swapping, etc.) indicating the forward thinking of the Government under PM Modi’s leadership.  

Formation of a separate Ministry of Water to focus on national programs such as the USD 94 billion Jal Jeevan, the USD 3 billion National Mission for Clean Ganga, etc. and provision of strong regulatory and commercial impetus for the waste management sector indicate that the leadership is focused not only on new “sunrise” sectors but also granting adequate attention to resource conservation for a circular approach to climate resilience. 

From a personal perspective, PM Modi has been the visionary in establishment of the USD 700 million Green Growth Equity Fund in partnership with the UK government to catalyze investment into green and sustainable infrastructure into India.  His deep passion for a green, clean and sustainable India is what we, at Eversource Capital, hope to realize through multiple investments in decarbonizing the energy value chain and in creating a circular economy in India. 

The next decade is set to be transformational for India. The ability to drive large scale reforms in a country as diverse as India warrants a leader with the ability to thrive in complexity and a drive to make change happen. India is privileged to be led by such a visionary.  

As PM Modi turns 70, I wish India realizes his dream over the next decade of building, nurturing and sustaining a country and world which is greener and cleaner for the next generation.