Green Dreams

Adani Green Energy, under Vneet S. Jaain's leadership, is making clean energy affordable through a mix of scale, localisation and digitisation to help meet India's energy goals

- Anand Adhikari

VNEET S. JAAIN has an interesting take on the word "impossible". To the Managing Director of Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), the word simply means "I'm possible". To the 53-year-old, the refusal to take calculated risks in favour of a safe path translates to succumbing to failure by default. This mindset inspires his daily routine at work, and it has guided him to a successful career over the past two decades.

For instance, after almost one and a half decades with the Delhi-based Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), Jaain chose to face fresh challenges, both geographically and professionally, by joining the Adani Group in Ahmedabad in the mid-2000s. "I was in my comfort zone. I was working very closely with the late O.P. Jindal and his sons. I was actually enjoying more authority because of my association with the family," explains Jaain. At JSPL, he was exposed to all departments-mining, steel making, rolling mills, power, etc. But he wanted to face new challenges.

Living by his mantra, Jaain packed his bags and left for Ahmedabad when the opportunity arose with the Adani Group. The Jindal Group was well known those days, while the Adani Group was emerging as a new player in the trading, agribusiness, and ports sectors. Not many professionals would have taken the risk of leaving a stable job in a metropolis to shift base to the sleepy city of Ahmedabad to join an emerging player.

In Ahmedabad, Jaain started his innings in the newly set up thermal power vertical. "I was the fourth or fifth employee of the energy vertical," recalls Jaain, who joined as Vice President in 2006. He was quickly elevated to the post of CEO at Adani Power Ltd; this was followed by a stint as CEO of Adani Transmission Ltd (now called Adani Energy Solutions Ltd). Later, he took over as CEO of Adani Infra (India) Ltd, before moving to AGEL in 2015 as a Non-executive Director.