Stanford Grad Varun Sivaram Dreams to Help India's Solar Energy Goal

BENGALURU: Varun Sivaram, a 26-year-old Stanford graduate, who opted for engineering physics and international relations in Stanford wants to help India to reach its goal of generating 100 gigawatts of solar energy by 2022, reports The Economic Times.

Varun Sivaram won Rhodes and Truman scholarship, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious scholarship programmes. He is now an adviser to the head of New York state’s entire energy portfolio. He chose to work in the solar industry by driving policy initiatives around it. Now he is a strategic advisor to Richard Kauffman, chairman of energy and finance for New York.

As part of his work in Council of Foreign Relations, Sivaram will be presenting the findings of his study involving bringing in new technological advancements in the solar industry, while identifying challenges and opportunities of implementation in India. He is also the youngest Douglas Dillon Fellow at Council of Foreign Relations (CFR), one of the prominent think tanks in New York that specializes in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs.

"Ministers do not want advice from western analysts. What they find helpful is when we share our experiences of implementing solutions on the ground," said Sivaram.

He is coming to India to meet  Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, and members of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh this month. He will be exchanging notes and identify challenges that could impede India's 100 GW goal here in India.

"The Indian solar story is very strong. We are a largely energyimport dependent country, and India has a lot to gain from solar energy. But there are operational as well as policy issues in India. The banks are still a bit shy in lending to Indian solar power projects. Land acquisition is a big problem. India lags in the capacity of its transmission networks. All this needs to be corrected," said Vinay Rustagi, joint managing director at Bridge To India, a cleantech consultancy firm.
Also Read:
India Has Zero Tolerance for Corruption, Black Money: Narendra Modi
Empower Indian Muslims With Education:Indian-American Philanthropist