There’s a unique sense of responsibility that comes with being a renewable energy company today. You have to walk the talk and deliver on your promises – and you have to appease your shareholders and the planet at the same time.

Hinduja Renewables is one industry player determined to get it right the first time. Standing at the forefront of the energy transition taking place all over the world, the company’s innovative technology and forward-thinking business models are designed to deliver greener, more affordable power and create a sustainable future for the world and its people.

To do this, Hinduja Renewables’ Managing Director and CEO Deepak Thakur says it’s a matter of having the right energy.

“We’re talking about energizing tomorrow, today,” he tells The CEO Magazine.

“To me, this means aligning stakeholders, building strong partnerships, shaping industry conversations and getting the right talent.”

Tackling the energy needs of a world caught between old ways and new is a challenge for even the most adept provider of power needs. Thakur says the task involves more than its fair share of leaps of faith.

“At Hinduja Renewables, we’re always looking at ways to stay ahead of the curve,” he says. “To win, we don’t need to be 100 percent better; we need to be just one percent better. So we’ll take leaps of faith across different parts of our value chain to seize that one percent.”

That value chain includes a 3,000-plus-megawatt peak solar and wind portfolio as well as 3,500 megawatts of Pumped Storage projects in the pipeline.

Mission ‘102030’ remains its north star, which aims to develop 10 gigawatts of clean energy capacity by the end of the decade. It’s a timeline that was inherited by Thakur, who was appointed Managing Director and CEO in October 2025.

“Any strategy gets reviewed year-on-year, but Mission ‘102030’ is what drives us,” he says.

Playing the long game

A veteran of the renewables industry, Thakur was attracted by Hinduja’s forward-thinking approach.

“We build projects and hold them until they mature,” he says. “We’ll operate our plants and create value for ourselves with a focus of about 25 years, or the economic life of the project.”

That the Hinduja Group was firmly focused on sustainability and net zero goals only helped affirm his decision to join.

“When a large group establishes a business like ours, it’s a way to contribute to their own sustainable vision as well as helping other companies and utilities meet their renewable objectives.”

Thakur arrived to find 1,000 megawatts peak of operating assets and almost 2,000 megawatts peak worth of projects in various stages of development.

“There was a very good pipeline of potential there,” he says. “By 2027, we should have another 1,500 megawatts ready to execute. This is a platform that is absolutely potent.”

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Thakur found his most pressing challenge in the top job was developing a clear understanding of Hinduja’s portfolio and the constitution of its assets.

“Then it was a matter of prioritizing things so we could continue to deliver what’s necessary to meet our overall business objectives,” he says.

“An incoming leader should observe, understand, question, learn and then synthesize how they’d like to take the ship forward. You’re protecting the present and building the future, and that’s the polarity a leader needs to balance.”

Branching out

With much potential on the horizon and a solid roadmap in place, Thakur’s journey aligns perfectly with the path in front of Hinduja Renewables. He believes careful delegation is an important part of reaching that goal.

“I believe in the tree of decisions,” he says. “You have leaves, branches, a trunk and the roots. The leaves are the decisions made by the people around me that I don’t need to be involved in. The branches are decisions taken that I’m informed about post-action.

“Trunk decisions involve a conversation between myself and my direct reports who’ll ultimately make the decision. We’ll talk over their thought process, and I’ll share any divergent points of view I may have.”

The roots are the most important decisions of all.

“These are fundamental to the ethos of the business. Even before they’re considered, they demand a conversation. That’s the simple philosophy I give to my teams.”

At Hinduja Renewables, the Commercial and Industry and Utility-focused portfolio continues to drive for a power-hungry future, and it doesn’t do so alone.

“I’m proud to say we have partners with us today who’ve worked with us over a few hundreds of megawatts,” Thakur says.

“We’ve been through difficult times together but because they’ve valued the relationship, they’ve held on, and they know we’ll do the same.”

Nurturing these relationships is key. One such relationship is Trinity Touch, an industrial electrical manufacturer, whose proven expertise in its domain is invaluable and key to building a strong partnership.

“We’ve established relationships that will pay off in the long-term,” he says. “We identify product categories in which we’d like to excel, and we identify the vendors or partners we’d like to work with to achieve that.”

With so much at stake, renewable energy companies have a duty to deliver on their word. How they get there comes down to leadership. And for Thakur, this means purposeful leadership.

“You have to take risks,” he insists. “Not all the time – the company might suffer. But to move a business forward, a CEO has to be able to go and make a change.

“We are at an inflection point not defined by activity alone, but by alignment,” Thakur continues. “When intent, energy and action start moving together, something powerful begins to emerge.

“The world is watching, people are impacted and it’s an amazing space to be in. This is where purpose meets ambition. This is where it all starts to matter.”