Shri Raj Kumar Singh assumed the charge as the Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Government of India on 3rd September, 2017. Shri Singh joined Indian Administrative Service in 1975 and held various important assignments, such as the District Magistrate of East Champaran and of Patna, Director and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Government of India, Commissioner of Patna Division and Home Secretary of Bihar, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Principal Secretary of the Road Construction Department of the Government of Bihar. He also held the post of Secretary, Department of Defence Production, Government of India and the Union Home Secretary, Govt. of India. He was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in 2014. He served on various Parliamentary Committees including mainly, the Privilege Committee, the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence and the Standing Committee of Ministry of Health &Family Welfare. He was also a Member of the Standing Committee for Peace and Security of International Parliamentary Union. As Minister of State with Independent Charge of the Ministries of Power and New & Renewable Energy, he had the privilege of launching and accomplishing the task of the world’s biggest power access programme, under which all villages and hamlets in the country were provided access to electricity. Thereafter, he implemented the “Saubhagya Scheme”, which saw electricity connections being provided to more than 26 million households who were earlier deprived within a span of 18 months (October 2017 – March 2019). The International Energy Agency acknowledged this achievement as the most significant initiative in the energy sector worldwide. His term as the Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister was also marked by connecting the whole country into one grid under the initiative ‘One Country, One Grid, One Frequency’. This has ensured access to the better quality of power, stability to the grid and also the efficient use of energy in line of Sustainable Development Goals. In the Renewable Energy Sector, Shri Singh has effectively catalyzed India’s vast RE potential with renewable energy capacity already reaching around 90 GW as on date with around 50 GW under installation. India is now well poised under his leadership to achieve the target of 175 GW by December 2022.

Shri Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi (IAS) has assumed the charge as Secretary in the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India. Prior to this appointment, he was serving as Additional Chief Secretary and Additional Secretary (Climate Change Department) at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of Jharkhand. Shri Chaturvedi is a 1987 batch IAS officer and belongs to the Jharkhand cadre. Shri Chaturvedi is B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT- Kanpur and holds a P.G. in International Development from Harvard University (USA). He has also worked as Joint Secretary or equivalent in PMO, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry Of Finance. He has extensive experience of working in other departments like the erstwhile Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog), Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions. Shri Chaturvedi has also undergone training in Financial Management, Community Mobilisation & Participatory Management Techniques.

Mr. Upendra Tripathy, former Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, has made exceptional and outstanding contribution towards achieving 175 GW target and for ushering in policies that transformed India’s renewable energy sector between 2014 and 2016. In ex-officio capacity, he has headed Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), National Institute of Solar Energy and National Institute of Wind Energy, National Institute of Bio Energy, Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States (AREAS) and International Solar Alliance (ISA). Mr. Tripathy galvanised both the Ministry of Renewable Energy and the Solar Energy Corporation through a plethora of new and imaginative policy measures. His institution building abilities and innovations got reflected in building of Hassan Kalamandir (1989), Center for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP) in Indian Institute of Science (2009), Environmental Management Policy Research Institute (EMPRI) (2003), Akshar Foundation (2001), turnaround of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) (2003-2008) and institution of Nrupathunga Award in Karnataka (2008). For these achievements, and for all his work in transforming a city Transport undertaking in Bangalore into a profit making one, the Prime Minister of India bestowed the PM’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration of Mr. Tripathy in 2009. Other awards that recognise his abilities, excellence and innovative thinking, are – Extra-Ordinary Citizens’ Award from Rotary International-2008, Central Board of Irrigation and Power (CBIP) Award 2016 for outstanding contribution to India’s Renewable Energy Sector, 10th Enertia Life Time Achievement Award- 2016 and UBM 2016 as Crusader of the year for Renewable Energy. What helps Mr. Tripathy in being an outstanding administrator of great eminence is his 36 years of diverse experience in an across related sectors- land administration, rural development, agriculture, education, social inclusion, environment, petroleum and natural gas, and transportation. He has worked in federal, provincial sand local administrations in India. HE Mr Tripathy currently heads International Solar Alliance as DG and can be at reached at utripathy@gmail.com and utripathy@isolaralliance.org.