On January 12, ORF America, in collaboration with the National Solar Energy Federation of India and BlueKraft Digital Foundation, hosted the New Delhi launch of Energy for Billions: India’s Turnaround and the World’s Future at the India International Centre.
Authored by Senior Fellow Piyush Verma, the book traces India’s extraordinary journey from widespread energy poverty to emerging global leadership in clean energy and climate governance. Blending personal narrative with policy insight, Energy for Billions offers a deeply human account of how energy access, institutional reform, and technological scale-up have reshaped India’s development trajectory — while also looking ahead to the country’s 2047 energy independence and 2070 net-zero goals, and the lessons this journey offers for the Global South and the world.
Published by BlueKraft Digital Foundation under the Viksit Bharat Fellowship, Energy for Billions features a foreword by Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, and has been widely endorsed by leaders in India and globally.
The launch discussion reflected on India’s clean energy transformation over the past decade, the governance and institutional choices that enabled scale, and the lessons India’s experience offers to other developing economies navigating energy transitions amid growth, equity, and climate constraints.
Opening remarks featured:
Subrahmanyam Pulipaka, CEO, National Solar Energy Federation of India
Shrutkeerti Khurana, Senior Vice President and Head – Publications & Knowledge Center, BlueKraft Digital Foundation
and a panel discussion with:
Deepak Gupta, IAS (Retd.), Director General, National Solar Energy Federation of India; Former Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy; Former Chairman, Union Public Service Commission
Ajay Mathur, Professor of Practice, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi; Former Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency; Former Director General, International Solar Alliance
Arvinn Gadgil, Deputy Ambassador, Royal Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi
Anita George, Chief Executive Officer, ProsperETE; Former Senior Director – Energy, World Bank
