Ashwani Kumar to Take Charge as Suzlon Group CEO

The Board of Directors of Suzlon, at a meeting held today, has approved the appointment of Ashwani Kumar as the Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective from October 19, 2020.

Kumar brings with him more than 3 decades of experience in the areas of finance, projects and business development at leading Indian Power and Infrastructure companies.

He has led construction of more than 6 GW of power projects from bidding to commercial operations, and has proven expertise in closing and managing large, complex contracts, effectively leveraging corporate affairs and leading transformations resulting in agile and responsive organizations.

On the educational background, Kumar is a Mechanical Engineer, and an alumnus of IIM Bangalore and The Harvard Business School.

Speaking on Ashwani Kumar’s joining, Tulsi Tanti, Chairman and Managing Director, Suzlon Group said, “I am delighted that Ashwani Kumar is joining the Suzlon family. He brings with him rich experience of power and infrastructure sectors in India. Renewable energy has transformed into a mainstream source of energy offering power plant scale solutions, making his experience highly relevant for us.”

Tanti further added that, “Having worked extensively in infrastructure as well as in utility management, Ashwani is the right fit for the organization given the current context of new opportunities for wind and renewable energy in India and all over the world. With his keen commercial acumen, I am confident that he will lead Suzlon with tremendous success and create lasting value for all our stakeholders. I wish him all the very best.”

On his appointment, Ashwani Kumar said, “I have always followed Suzlon’s journey with keen interest. I have great respect for the resilience and tenacity of the company and its stakeholders. I believe the business fundamentals are strong with compelling and credible business operations.”

Kumar added, “I also believe that the time for wind and renewable energy to grow exponentially in India is now. We have seen how the world is moving towards responsible choices and I see a future where sustainable sources like renewable energy will be the new normal. The early signs of growth are already there and Suzlon is best positioned to tap into the next phase of RE sector growth in India. I am excited to join the company at such an important juncture and look forward to working with the founders, the management team and the Suzlon family to build a stronger, future ready company.”

The Suzlon’s Board of Director’s meeting was held in late evening after market closing. However, Suzlon Energy’s scrips ended at 2.78 apiece, down 2.11 per cent, from the previous closing on the exchange.

Pune-headquartered Suzlon Group, which is comprised of Suzlon Energy and its subsidiaries, is one of the leading renewable energy solutions provider globally with presence across 18 countries in Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa and Americas.

It is the only Indian wind energy company with a large in-house Research and Development (R&D) set-up in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and India. Over 12.8 GW of the Group’s installation is in India, which makes up for 35 per cent of it’s wind installations, making Suzlon the largest player in this sector. The Group is the custodian of over 12.8 GW of wind assets under service in India making it the 3rd largest Operations and Maintenance company (over 8,900 turbines) in Indian power sector. The Group also has around 2.5 GW of wind assets under service outside India.