EESL appoints Arun Kumar Mishra as CEO

NEW DELHI: State-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), a joint venture of NTPC Ltd and Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd, has appointed Arun Kumar Mishra as chief executive officer (CEO) on deputation.

This follows EESL's executive vice chairperson Saurabh Kumar resigning. The PSU, set up under union power ministry, has been allotted the demand aggregation of electric three-wheeler and electric bus component under the ₹10,000 crore Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (Fame) scheme of the central government.

“Energy Efficiency Services Limited, a joint venture of Public Sector Undertakings under Ministry of Power has announced the appointment of Mr Arun Kumar Mishra as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on deputation. He will be responsible for EESL’s operations across the nation,” EESL said in a statement.

EESL, an energy service company (ESCO), is among the earliest entrants in India’s energy efficiency market estimated at around ₹74,000 crore and is presently running the world’s largest domestic lighting programme. With India rolling out the world’s largest electricity smart metering programme, EESL and IntelliSmart, its joint venture with India’s quasi sovereign wealth fund National Investments and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), have been present in India's  smart meter programme space. 

EESL’s subsidiary Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) aims to have 200,000 two-wheeled EVs and 300,000 three-wheeled EVs across India.

“Mr. Mishra is a veteran in the energy sector, with more than three decades of experience in National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) including Policy perspective as Director, National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM)– Project Management Unit (PMU) and Vice Chair, International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN),” the statement said.

India's energy efficiency measures have been best reflected in its programme to expand the use of LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs. The government’s UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable Lighting for All) scheme reduced prices of LED bulb prices. CESL is also running the Gram Ujala scheme that offers the world’s cheapest LED bulbs in rural areas at ₹10. While a total of 350 million compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs have been replaced with LED bulbs, the target is to reach 770 million bulbs. 

"It is an honor to be a part of world’s largest public Energy Service Company (ESCO). Government of India has acknowledged potential of renewable energy and energy efficiency as the key pillars of National climate change strategies. I look forward to consolidating EESL leadership position in sustainable energy transformation,” Mishra said in the statement.

Demand side management holds the key to India's ambitious climate change commitments. The Union government has modified the marquee Fame scheme by increasing incentives for electric two-wheelers to ₹15,000 per KWh and allotted the demand aggregation of electric three-wheeler and electric bus component to EESL. CESL has also called bids for procuring100,000 electric three wheelers with an estimated cost of Rs3000 crore in the largest such global tender.