“Was I independent as a child? Yes, I think so. I was always extensively involved in sports; I swam at a national level, and played basketball for Andhra Pradesh. That’s what actually taught me about leadership, so it was ingrained in me very early on. I was also naturally more inclined towards things with a touch and feel, which is why I leaned towards mechanical engineering in college, and followed through to do my Master’s in Nuclear Engineering from Purdue University. I ended up getting the position of a research assistant on a project with NASA regarding solar powered fuel cells on a high altitude airship. Post this is when my journey with renewable energy truly began.

My husband and I always wanted to return to our home base in India, so in 2008, we returned to Hyderabad. I worked with Lanco in their wind energy department until the recession hit, after which I transferred to their solar department. This was a phenomenal journey for me, because until this point I had only worked with the design and engineering aspects, but now I realized I was more of a business oriented person, with a strong competence for sales.

Taking from all I had seen and learnt until that point, my business partner, Saurabh, and I co-founded our own rooftop solar powering company, Freyr Energy. So far, we have our base in 22 states, and have electrified over 120 villages in India. It’s been a long, arduous journey, including many risky and difficult tasks. A lot of the rural areas we were in were naxal infested and extremely dangerous to work out of. There was one area where we saw severed heads on the ground, and had to have the locals with us constantly. Considering the lack of transport, our team had to carry all the equipment by foot for 10 to 15 kms, and believe me, things like panels, poles and inverters are not lightweight whatsoever. However, it is very gratifying to give access to so many villages to the grid- their days are longer, the kids can study, it’s safer and definitely increases their livelihood overall.

We’ve also developed a customer app, SunPro+, for users to be able to have a transparent journey to power their homes or work spaces, and we’ve ensured that it’s available in all regional languages so it is more accessible. We chose the name Freyr from the Norse mythology, and it means the ultimate power, which of course, aligns with the work we do. India’s renewable energy market is still barely penetrated, and my aspiration at the moment is for Freyr to be in the top 3 energy companies here. Is it possible? Most definitely. All it takes is perseverance and clarity on your aspirations, both of which I have in my reigns.”