Over the past decade, the energy transition has largely been framed as a technology and capital story—batteries getting cheaper, EV adoption accelerating, hydrogen scaling, and climate capital flowing across borders.

But in the last few months, something fundamental has shifted. Geopolitics is back at the center of energy.

The escalating conflict involving Iran, the return of a more protectionist and unpredictable United States under President Trump, and the increasingly assertive roles of China and Russia are no longer distant headlines—they are now shaping supply chains, energy prices, and strategic decisions in boardrooms across the world.

For CEOs in the energy transition space, this raises urgent questions:
Are we entering a new era of energy fragmentation?
Will supply chains be redrawn along political lines?
And most importantly—how should businesses prepare for a world where geopolitics, not just economics, drives outcomes?

To help us unpack this, I’m delighted to welcome Pramit Pal Chaudhary.

Pramit is one of India’s most respected voices on geopolitics and global strategy. He has been a foreign policy advisor to the Indian government, a senior fellow at leading global think tanks, and a long-time analyst of how power, policy, and economics intersect.

Today, we go beyond headlines—to explore the tectonic shifts shaping the future of energy, and what they mean for India and the world.

Designing Cities for People, Not Just Cars: Rethinking Urban Mobility with Zohra MUTABANNA

What happens when we plug electric vehicles into cities that were never built for them? Urban designer Zohra Mutabanna joins us to unpack the real design challenges of India’s mobility future...from shared transport to the Avoid-Shift-Improve model, and how our cities can evolve into living, breathing ecosystems instead of chaotic grids.

Welcome to the Energising India Podcast. On this program, we engage with the key protagonists shaping the future of energy, mobility, and sustainability within India and globally. I’m your host, Ravin MIRCHANDAN, and today we step into the world of cities, the spaces that hold our daily lives together yet often crack under the weight of growth, congestion, and unsustainable planning. Today, we speak with Zohra MUTABANNA —an architect, urban designer, and thought leader who believes that cities must be designed as ecosystems, not afterthoughts. She works with the intersection of design, policy, and sustainability, asking bold questions about whether India’s cities are truly ready for electric mobility or whether we risk building EVs into an already broken urban fabric. Zohra brings years of experience reimagining the built environment through resilience, inclusivity, and innovation. With her, we’ll explore the Avoid-Shift and improve framework,the realities of urban transport and shared mobility, and design choices that will determine whether our urban future is chaotic or truly sustainable.

Welcome to the Energizing India Podcast! On this program, we engage with the key protagonists shaping the future of energy, mobility, and sustainability in India and globally. I’m your host, Ravin MIRCHANDANI, and today we’re stepping into a completely new lane of India’s transport story in relation to zero-emission intercity travel going electric. We’re talking about FreshBus, a young but ambitious player redefining what it means to move people cleanly, comfortably, and efficiently across states.

Joining us is Mr. Sudhakar CHIRRA, a serial entrepreneur synonymous with innovation in India’s bus mobility space. Before FreshBus, he founded and led AbhiBus, India’s first bus-ticketing app that reshaped how travelers connect with operators.

Now he heads FreshBus, an all-electric, full-stack intercity bus platform that’s rewriting expectations of cost, speed, and sustainability in mobility. Since launching in 2019, FreshBus has built a battery-powered fleet, carried hundreds of thousands of passengers, and is now backed by a $10.5 million Series A round to scale that ambition nationwide.

With Sudhakar as our guide, today we’ll explore:

● What does it mean to start fresh with a 100% electric fleet?

● How does one build profitability in a capital-intensive asset under real Indian conditions?

● What’s the passenger experience really like when “EV+Tech” replaces convention?

Sudhakar, welcome to the program.