Cleantech Forum Delhi: Solve India’s problems, and you can solve the world’s

Cleantech Forum XXIV happened in Delhi last week. Nick Parker, in his opening remarks, said “Solve India’s problems, and you can solve problems for another 2 billion people of the world.” That to me signifies the economic promise that cleantech holds for India.

Below are key takeways I gleaned from the event’s keynote speeches, panel discussions, entrepreneurs’ pitches, and networking breaks. Time permitting I will post more detail later.

Cleantech investment in India will overwhelmingly focus on bringing existing technologies to the Indian markets. Innovations involved, if any, can be classified as technology modifications, aggregating multiple technologies or business model innovation. Fundamental technology innovation remains rare, even in large companies. Only one India-based company presenting at the event, Carbon Clean Solutions, was based on technology innovation.

Large scale power generation and industrial/commercial energy efficiency dominate. Many 10-50MW solar power plants are being funded, supported by central and state governments intent on building up solar demand in large chunks. The CDM mechanism has provided additional revenue streams for both renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

Green buildings (and related technologies), rural/decentralized power, and waste-to-resources (including energy, water and valued materials) are gaining momentum. GreenSpaces, Rehact, Barefoot Power, Sustainable Energy Solutions Afghanistan and Genesyst Ecotechnologies that presented at the conference fall in these categories.

Water, though acknowledged as a huge challenge, remains a hard nut to crack, for entrepreneurs and investors. (If you know of a company making money doing rain-water harvesting, give me a shout!!) WaterHealth’s CEO was at the event, but no other sustained success story comes to my mind in terms of providing decentralized drinking water solutions to rural poor.

Agriculture, a leading consumer of energy and water, is a sector that needs innovation in many pre- and post-harvest areas. But small farm size and counter-productive (and politically untouchable) government incentives remain key impediments. Incidentally, an India company Jain Irrigation made the Global Cleantech 100 list chosen from 60,000 companies worldwide. Representing the company at the event was Dr. D. N. Kulkarni, president “Sustainable Agriculture for Small Holders.”

“Lot of ‘dry powder’ is looking for investment opportunities” said several investors representing VC/PE firms at the event. But don’t expect a flurry of deals. Patience and pragmatism were in no short supply among those I talked with, given that global markets are just emerging from a severe cash crunch.

Global entrepreneurs are beginning to look for capital and strategic partners in India. Six of the eleven companies that presented at the event were based outside of India. While the Cleantech Group should certainly take credit for bringing them to Delhi, I think it does show that entrepreneurs now see India’s value both as a market and source of capital. The ones I talked with understood the importance of local strategic partners and connections to succeed in India.

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