Suzlon's renewed energy

IT WAS IN 1994, when Girish Tanti was close to completing his MBA in the U.K. that his older brother, the late Tulsi Tanti, made a call from Gujarat to the 24-year-old: “We’re looking at renewable energy [as a business]. Wind seems interesting. Why don’t you look at this as an area of focus?” Though the Tantis ran a textile business, Tulsi was thinking about something different.

What was to be Girish’s MBA thesis — setting up a wind energy business in India — was now a real business pivot. When Tulsi came over to the U.K., the duo travelled across Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. before zeroing in on Germany as the learning base for the new business. By April 1995, the thesis was abandoned, but the idea, Suzlon Energy, came to life.

Thirty years on, Suzlon is embarking on a new strategy that will redefine how the company will play India’s renewable energy game.