ReNew, Azure, and Vibrant Announce New Senior Leadership Appointments

ReNew appoints Kedar Upadhye as CFO, Vibrant appoints Vinay Pabba as COO, and Azure names Harsh Shah as CEO

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Three renewable energy companies in India, ReNew Power, Vibrant Energy, and Azure Power, have announced changes in their senior leadership positions.

The changes come when the Indian renewable energy industry has the arduous task of meeting the target of 500 GW by 2030 set by the government.

ReNew Power

ReNew Power announced it has appointed Kedar Upadhye as its group Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Upadhye comes with over 22 years of diverse and global experience. Before joining ReNew, he was President and Global CFO of pharmaceutical company Cipla.

Upadhye was also the Vice President and Head, Finance and Investor Relations for Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories. He has also held leadership roles at PepsiCo and Thermax.

Upadhye’s leadership experience includes core financial reporting, cost optimization, global investor relations, and several high-impact, cross-functional transformational projects.

ReNew has also hired a new General Counsel – Vikash Jain, and a Chief Growth Officer – Vikram Kapur, who will help lead its expansion over the next decade, including its push into new clean energy segments such as green hydrogen.

According to the recently released India Solar Market Leaderboard 2022, ReNew Power was the largest utility-scale developer in terms of installations for the calendar year 2021. The company was listed on the Nasdaq in 2021 after completing a business combination with RMG Acquisition Corporation II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

In April this year, ReNew Power announced it had signed five power purchase agreements (PPA) amounting to about 2 GW with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), and corporate buyers.

Vibrant Energy

Vibrant Energy announced the appointment of Vinay Pabba as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Pabba is a veteran in the renewable industry with a track record of building close to 3 GW of solar and wind assets.

He has held leadership roles in large renewable energy platforms in India, with the most recent stints being at Brookfield Asset Management and Greenko Group. He has executed large-format transmission and distribution projects in India and Africa during a prior role with engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) companies.

Pabba is the founder of VARP Power and is a Director on the Board of Virescent Infrastructure, a renewable energy platform backed by leading global investment firm KKR in India.

Vibrant Energy is a portfolio company with indirect investments from Macquarie’s Green Investment Group but operating independently.

Early this year, Vibrant Energy signed power purchase agreements for 231 MW of solar and wind energy capacity to power Sify’s latest hyperscale data centers.

Azure Power

Azure Power announced that Harsh Shah would join as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from July 1, 2022. Shah was previously the Chief Executive Officer of IndiGrid, India’s first and largest Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) in the Indian energy sector.

He has served as the Chief Financial Officer for Sterlite Power and IndiGrid. He is also on the SEBI Advisory Committee for InvITs and real estate investment trusts.

Shah has a strong track record of building large infrastructure platforms, developing high-performing teams, delivering robust P&L management, and raising private and public capital across the infrastructure sector in India and global markets.

Azure had previously announced that its Board of Directors had accepted the resignations of its CEO Ranjit Gupta and COO Murali Subramanian.

Azure Power was the third-largest utility-scale developer in terms of installations, according to India Solar Market Leaderboard 2022. The company sold its non-core rooftop solar portfolio during the year.

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