BOARD MEMBERS OF I-AEE

Mr. Sethi is a recognized thought leader with expertise in contemporary development issues facing a climate and resource constrained world. His worldwide experience covers assignments in government, multilateral & bilateral agencies, private and public sector enterprises, academia & non-governmental organizations. He has successfully delivered functional and management responsibilities, as well as crafted policies and regulations at the enterprise, sectoral, national and international levels. He has worked in over 40 countries in diverse fields spanning energy, power, physical infrastructure, multiple industrial sectors and financial markets.

Mr. Sethi retired as the Principal Advisor Power & Energy and Core Climate Negotiator, in the rank of Secretary to Government of India. Earlier, he was Chief Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation, Washington DC; and Group Head Overseas Investments at Tata, India’s largest private sector conglomerate, where he started his career in the prestigious Tata Administrative Services in 1975. Post retirement, Mr. Sethi was appointed Professor at the LKY School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore and also held the position of UNESCO Chair Professor Climate Science and Policy at the Teri School of Advanced Studies.

Mr. Sethi served the Indian Prime Minister's Energy Coordination Committee and wrote the first Integrated Energy Policy of India (2006). He was part of the team that crafted India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (2008). He was a key contributor to the Indian Electricity Act (2003), and the resulting National Electricity, Tariff, Rural Electrification, Hydro and other Energy Sector policies. He also contributed significantly to the Regulatory Bills that established independent regulation in various energy sub-sectors. He represented India at the UNFCCC, IPCC, UN Energy and Climate Dialogue and several other bilateral and multilateral climate and energy forums.

Mr. Sethi was Non-Resident Senior Fellow of Brookings, Washington DC; and has been a guest speaker at Oxford, Princeton, Université Paris‐Dauphine, University of Technology Sydney and University of Cape Town. He has provided thought leadership to a number of think tanks around the world including CEPS, Brussels; IFFRI, Paris; Chatham House, London; IGES, Japan; IIASA, Austria; and KAF, Germany.

Dr. Debajit Palit has more than 25 years of experience working in the domain of renewable energy, clean energy access, rural electrification, distributed generation micro-grids, energy-gender-poverty nexus, and water-energy-food nexus. He has been listed in the Top 2% World's Scientists in the last 3 years by Stanford University and Elsevier BV. Currently, he is a Professor in Energy Policy at the NTPC School of Business, Noida.

Before joining the NTPC School of Business in April 2022, Dr. Palit was a Director & Senior Fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), an independent global research and policy think-tank, in New Delhi. At TERI, he has completed nearly 200 analytical, technology design, action-research and implementation projects and has led 70+ projects including the award-winning Lighting a Billion Lives Campaign and OASYS South Asia initiative. From 2012 to 2022, Dr. Palit led the Social Transformation/Rural Energy and Livelihoods Division in TERI, supervising a multidisciplinary team of 20+ research professionals and technical staff.

Dr. Palit possesses vast national and international experience, working in projects for UN organisations, Bilateral organisations, The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and national governments across 17 countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. He has written widely on energy access and rural electrification issues and has published 3 books and around 150 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, books, and magazines. He is a sought-out speaker on rural energy issues, renewable energy, mini-grids, water-energy-food, energy-livelihood, and energy-gender-poverty nexus and has participated in more than 100 national and international conferences and workshops across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Dr. Palit is conversant with policy and programme formulation and has been part of various Government of India Committees and Expert Groups on Energy & Rural Electrification and a Jury Member for academic & corporate awards.

Dr Palit holds a Master’s degree in Physics, Post Graduate Diploma in Non-conventional Energy Technology and Ph.D. in Energy Policy. For more details, Please visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-debajit-palit-phd-86663115/

Mr. Soonee is the Founder, Former Chief Executive Officer, and Advisor of Power System Operation Corporation Ltd. Shri Soonee has first-hand four decades of experience in Power System Operation of

various Regional Grids of India and has worked extensively towards Integration of Grids leading to the formation of the National Grid and now SAARC Grid.

He specializes in Power System Operation, Planning, Commercial, Settlement, Restoration and entire gamut of Power Pooling and Governance. Other areas of interest include Electricity Markets, Open Access, Regulatory affairs besides expertise in Load Despatch Technology integration of Renewable Energy including REC Mechanism, Transmission Pricing and development of Ancillary Services.

Shri S K Soonee is a Life Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India) , Fellow of IEEE,

Distinguished Alumnus IIT Kharagpur, Distinguished Member CIGRE , Fellow INAE , Foreign

Member NAE , USA .

He has represented India on the CIGRE Study Committee C2 on Power System Operation and the CIGRE Study Committee C5 on Electricity Markets and Regulation.

Mr. Surendra has more than three decades of Experience in the Power Sector, Information Technology, and Legal matters.

He started his career in Software development and Corporate Training with leading IT Company NIIT. Later, he Joined as a Faculty Member in Field of General Management & IT Training at Power Management Institute of NTPC.

Later joined the Commercial Department of NTPC and dealt with Regulatory issues, dealing with Electricity Commission(s), Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, High court(s) and Supreme Court.

Mr. Surendra was instrumental in developing / implementing Rfs and Rfp documents for Solar Projects at inception stage of Solar Power development in India and followed it up with PPA’s/ PSA’s for Solar Projects under JNNSM in 2010. He was also instrumental in setting up the Commercial Department of NVVN Ltd. (Subsidiary of NTPC Ltd.). Other areas of work include Ash and Environment Management etc.

He later took over as Secretary, Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) and steered in resolving the pending Tariff Issues and instrumental in development and issue of new DERC Supply Code and Performance Standards) Regulations, 2017 and DERC (Forum of Redressal of Grievances of Consumers and Ombudsman) Regulations, 2018 as well as DERC (Business Plan) Regulations 2017.

He was also associated with National Level Planning body of India on Electricity matters, i.e., Central Electricity Authority (C.E.A.) looking after their Legal and Regulatory Affairs Division.

His main interest is in Legal issues pertaining to Electricity Sector but not restricted to it and extends to other areas of Law as well, like Real Estate ( Regulation and Development ) Act, 2016, Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 ( SARFAESI Act, 2002) , Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 , Companies Act, 2013 and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 etc.

Mr. Shastri is the founder of EnerStrat Consulting- a London-based international strategic management consultancy practice in the Energy Sector. He set up EnerStrat Consulting to advise clients specifically on the subject of the “grand transition in energy” which to some extent he foresaw in 2003.

In addition, he is active in several committees of the World Energy Council and serves as Senior Advisor to The Global Gas Centre, Geneva; as Distinguished Fellow (non-resident) at the Washington DC based Energy Policy Research Foundation Inc. (EPRINC) and Member of the Advisory Board of the Audencia Business School in France and is a Liveryman (Member of the Court) of The Worshipful Company of Fuellers in London. He is also visiting faculty at leading business schools in Europe, India, and the USA.

Ashutosh has advised leading international energy companies in their corporate and business unit strategies, especially in the international oil and gas, electric utilities and natural gas/LNG and downstream petroleum sector. He has acted as independent expert in a range of commercial renegotiations/disputes in the natural gas/LNG and electricity contracts. 

In the recent past he has been advising clients in the frontier areas of smart energy technology/energy optimization using techniques driven by big data analytics, IoT and has also published thought pieces on the role of digital transformation in achieving the goals of low carbon energy transition.

In addition to his strategic/commercial advisory, he has often taken on operational and interim management roles in energy and technology companies. He has hands on experience in technology commercialization, new product/market development and organizational change/performance improvement. He has extensive experience in carbon markets; energy and climate finance, including a good understanding of energy/clean technology venture investing. 

He has authored several published papers on Global Unconventional/Shale Gas, LNG, Smart Grids and Wind Energy. He has chaired several prestigious UN Conferences on Energy Policy and Trade. 

Prior to founding EnerStrat Consulting in London in 2003, he was an expert consultant in the global energy practice of McKinsey and Company based in London between the years 1995-2003. Prior to McKinsey, he worked as a TQM/ISO-9000 Champion and a Project Engineer in India. 

Ashutosh is an electrical engineering graduate of The Victoria Jubilee Technological Institute, University of Mumbai.