Pralhad Joshi to deliver keynote address at Mint Sustainability Summit 2025

Pralhad Joshi, Union minister for new and renewable energy, will deliver the keynote address at the Mint Sustainability Summit 2025 in New Delhi on Wednesday. The fourth edition of the summit, which has the theme ‘Clean Energy for Positive Climate Impact’, brings together a wide array of experts and industry leaders to discuss India’s transition to a greener, more sustainable future.

Joshi, who is also the minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, will speak on the government’s plans for achieving its publicly stated clean-energy targets, and how adoption of clean energy is becoming a clear imperative.

Data from the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) shows that India installed a record 29.52 GW of RE capacity in FY25, bringing the total to 220.10 GW, up from 198.75 GW a year earlier. Solar now accounts for more than 105GW and wind has crossed 50GW. According to the ministry, the cumulative non-fossil fuel capacity—including hydro and nuclear—is steadily approaching the 500 GW target for 2030. 

Still, challenges like financing, grid integration, and supply chain sustainability remain. By bringing together diverse voices and perspectives, Mint Sustainability Summit 2025 will aim to debate and address these challenges.

The event kicks off with a panel discussion on how India’s urban centres can adapt and build resilience against the increasing threats of climate change. The discussion will bring together Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientist Minal Pathak, conservation biologist Neha Sinha, and Samit Mitra of Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet. 

Following this, the focus shifts to how India can scale up renewable energy, a key session addressing the policy, financing, and delivery challenges of India’s clean energy goals. This panel will see participation from Pradip Kumar Das, chairman and MD of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd, the country heads of Gentari India and Macquarie Group—Sharad Pungalia and Abhishek Poddar—as well as Vijay Agarwal, MD of Equirus Capital.

The Summit will see presentations that will offer practical perspectives on different aspects of sustainability and clean energy adoption. Girish Ramesh Luthra, chairman of Luthra Group, will discuss approaches to waste management. Sachin Bajaj, CFO of Gentari India, will outline an integrated model for decarbonizing at scale and advancing India’s clean economy. K. Ganesh, director – sustainability & corporate affairs at Bisleri International, will present on India’s ‘Greener Promise’. 

A crucial session will address ‘Climate Change, atmospheric Pollution and Geo-engineering: The Missing Picture’ to fill in gaps of public understanding around interconnections between climate change, air quality, and the controversial topic of geo-engineering. Experts from Teri and IIT Delhi will provide a scientific perspective, exploring the unintended consequences and ethical considerations of large-scale environmental interventions.

How can ‘hard-to-abate sectors’ such as metals, cement and mining join the sustainability drive? This difficult subject will be tackled by Arvind Bodhankar, chief sustainability officer, Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India, and Sanjay Kumar Singh, director – strategy & external relations, Jindal Steel. They will discuss the technological and strategic innovations required to reduce carbon emissions in the steel and cement sectors.

The summit then turns its attention to how various renewable sources of energy—RE, green hydrogen, small nuclear—can be interconnected and leveraged together for the country’s benefit. With Praveer Sinha, CEO and managing director, Tata Power, Derek M. Shah, CEO and managing director, L&T Energy GreenTech, Gautam Reddy, CEO, AM Green, and B.V.S. Shekhar, outstanding scientist and executive director, Nuclear Power Corp of India joining the debate, the session will highlight the synergies between these technologies in building a robust and reliable energy infrastructure.

A separate fireside chat with Nawal Saini, managing partner and head of renewable power & transition, South Asia and the Middle East, Brookfield will analyze India’s sustainability targets in terms of what’s in it for global investors. The discussion will cover the specific sectors and policies that are attracting global interest and how this foreign investment can fuel India’s green transition.

Tacking the net-zero challenge, will be a high-level panel on the corporate and societal responsibility of achieving net-zero emissions. This discussion will feature Anup Sahay, head of corporate strategy and special initiatives, Larsen & Toubro, Chandra Bhushan, CEO, iForest, Madhulika Sharma, chief sustainability officer, ITC Ltd, and Gagandeep Sethi, senior vice president- integrated operations and S&R (sustainability & responsibility) at Pernod Ricard India.

The summit will conclude with a thought-provoking panel titled “A storm in the plate”. This session will focus on the critical intersection of agriculture, food security, and climate change, with Ajay Vir Jakhar, chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, Rangu Rao, CEO, Safe Harvest, and Devendra Gupta, co-founder and CEO, Ecozen Solutions Pvt. Ltd.