ReNew CEO Sumant Sinha On His Favourite Books The IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta alumnus is also the author of 'Fossil Free: Reimagining Clean Energy in a Carbon Constrained World.'
By Kabir Singh Bhandari •
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Sumant Sinha is the founder, chairman and CEO of ReNew, the decarbonization solutions company and the first Indian renewable energy company to list on NASDAQ (NASDAQ: RNW). Sumant returned to India in 2002 after a decade-long career in investment banking in the US and the UK, to join the Aditya Birla Group as the finance head, but his first brush with running a clean energy company came in 2008, when he joined Suzlon as its Chief Operating Officer. In 2010, Sumant founded ReNew, with a vision to transform the way energy is produced and consumed.
The IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta alumnus is also the author of 'Fossil Free: Reimagining Clean Energy in a Carbon Constrained World.' The book explores the urgency, the challenges, and the opportunities of transitioning away from fossil fuels to cleaner sources of energy. It explains how improved electricity infrastructure, decentralized smart grids, electric vehicles, energy storage, and market design are already providing clear pathways for the transition towards green, efficient, affordable, and secure renewable energy across the energy-use chain: extraction, conversion, transmission, distribution, and end-use.
Sumant is an avid reader himself, and lists three of his favourite books for us:
Lord of the Rings
For fantasy lovers this book needs no synopsis. Let me just add though that this is a truly wonderful sword-and-sorcery tale, beautifully told through its three parts.
Liars Poker
A prequel to The Big Short, Michael Lewis' remarks give the best synopsis of the book; "Anyone could make millions in the 80s provided they were at the right place in the right time". I especially love how the book is an amalgamation of Michael's autobiography and the biographies of the biggest players turn in the financial market of the 80s.
Catch 22
Perhaps a book worth reading in the circumstances we currently live in. Joseph Heller, the author, who participated in World War 2 as a part of the US Army Air Corps satirically denounces war and all the wrath that it brings with it. In one of the reviewers' words, "The book is absurdly sensible, and its tone is depressingly hilarious".
The author can be reached at bkabir@entrepreneurindia.com and Instagram.com/kabirsinghbhandari
