Sumant Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director, Renew Power Private limited (“ReNew Power”), India’s largest Renewable energy company, was honoured with the Distinguished Alumnus award by IIM- Calcutta on November 14, 2019, for his extraordinary contributions in the area of Business Entrepreneurship.
Under his leadership, ReNew has become the first clean energy company in India to cross 5,000 MW of commissioned capacity. ReNew power was also the first renewable energy company in India to attain the Unicorn status and has raised more than $1.4Bn of equity till date, with a total asset base in excess of $6.5Bn. With marquee investors from across the globe such as Goldman Sachs, CPPIB, ADIA and JERA. ReNew is now ranked amongst the largest Indian infrastructure companies.
A leading first-generation entrepreneur, Sumant Sinha began his career as an investment banker in the US and UK with leading global banks such as Citibank and ING, post which he returned to India and was the Group CFO of the Aditya Birla Group for 5 years till 2007, and then COO at Suzlon, before starting ReNew in 2011.
On receiving the honour, Sumant Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director of ReNew Power Private Limited said, “It is always a matter of great pride to receive recognition from one’s alma mater. IIM Calcutta has been a significant part of my formative years and has helped me understand and realise the potential of business as a tool to change lives and livelihoods. I’d also like to thank all Renew employees from the bottom of my heart for all their efforts in making ReNew the largest clean energy company in India and for being an integral part of my entrepreneurial journey.”
This is the second time that Sumant is being honoured with a distinguished Alumnus Award. In 2018, he had received the ‘IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumnus Award’ from his other alma mater – IIT Delhi. Sumant is also on the Board of Governors of IIM Calcutta, IIT Delhi and Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Sumant is a passionate advocate for solutions related to climate change through the intersection of business and public policy and a member of the Stewardship Board on Shaping the Future of Energy at the World Economic Forum (WEF). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and chairs both the CII’s Renewable Energy Council, and the Climate Change Council.
For his achievements in the area of entrepreneurship and clean energy, Sumant has won several awards including the coveted “Economic Times Entrepreneur of the Year Award, 2018” and The Entrepreneur India’s “Entrepreneur of the year” award for 2019. Under Sumant‘s leadership, ReNew Power recently won the prestigious Porter Prize for 2019.
