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.

Three decades, countless innovations, one mission...redefine how India moves. PuneetANAND pulls back the curtain on Hyundai’s journey in clean energy, EVs, and community-driven mobility. Buckle up, it’s a ride into the future.

Welcome to the Energizing India Podcast. On this program, we engage with the key protagonists shaping the future of energy, mobility, and sustainability, both in India and globally. I’m your host, Ravin MIRCHANDANI, and today we’re in the driver’s seat with one of India’s most exciting automotive journeys. The transformation of mobility as we knew it in this country. Joining us is a man who quite literally has his fingerprints across the evolution of the Indian automobile industry. Puneet Anand is the vertical head of corporate affairs, corporate communications, and social responsibilities as AVP with Hyundai Motors, India, and has an enviable 3 decades of experience in the Indian automotive sector. Since 1998, Puneet has been an integral part of Hyundai’s leadership in India, steering pivotal functions and driving growth in a dynamic and often unpredictable automotive sector environment. Today, we look under the hood of Hyundai’s clean energy transition from investments in EVs, hydrogen technology, and renewable energy to localization strategies that boost the resilience of India’s economy. We explore the role of public policy, infrastructure, and community engagement that Hyundai plays in redefining mobility in the next generation. What does the road ahead look like for India’s clean mobility revolution? How does a giant like Hyundai balance cutting-edge innovation with deep local relevance? Puneet ANAND, welcome to the program.

Today, we welcome back Uday Narang San. Uday is one of the few real innovators of electronic mobility in India. Focusing on the 2-wheeler, 3-wheeler, and 4-wheeler transport space in India. And it’s always exciting to have Uday on the show to have a candid conversation about what gives and often what does not. Uday San, welcome to the program.

Can democracies compete with China's algorithmic hegemony in the energy transition?

In this pivotal episode, we sit down with Peter Varghese AO, former head of Australia's Office of National Assessments (Australia's intelligence agency), former High Commissioner (Ambassador) to India, and former Australian Secretary of Foreign Affairs, for an unfiltered discussion about the new world order reshaping energy and technology.

Varghese challenges conventional wisdom on self-reliance, warning that abandoning comparative advantage could make us "a heck of a lot poorer." He reveals why containing China is "not feasible," but allowing it to become the Indo-Pacific hegemon would resurrect the Middle Kingdom where "hierarchy was harmony."

With Trump's America imposing 50% tariffs on India and creating "perceptions of unreliability," Varghese explores whether the Quad and AUKUS can survive, and why India-Australia cooperation on critical minerals and AI remains slower than anticipated despite evident synergies.

Key Discussions:

Why China's control of energy technology may be irreversible.

The "salad days" of US leadership and what comes after Trump.

How AI will disrupt diplomacy, universities, and the very concept of expertise.

The hidden risks in post-COVID self-sufficiency drives.

What policymakers consistently get wrong about the China-India-Australia triangle

Co-hosted by Ravin Mirchandani and special guest co-host Ritu David (ex-intelligence analyst, seconded to CIA Afghanistan), this episode delivers rare insights from one of Australia's most experienced strategic thinkers on navigating the collision of energy transition, AI disruption, and great power competition. Essential listening for anyone working in energy, technology, or international business in the Indo-Pacific.

[Runtime: 32 minutes]

⚡️⚡️Energizing India Podcast Alert! ⚡️⚡️

1991: India’s Near-Default Moment. How Did We Survive — and in 2025 What Challenges Come Next? | Montek Singh AHLUWALIA

On this program, we engage with the key thinkers and leaders shaping India's economic, energy, and policy landscape. I'm your host, Ravin MIRCHANDANI, and today, honestly, I'm a little bit starstruck. Joining us on the show is someone we have admired for years and who really needs no introduction at all to the business audience, as he was one of the true architects of the modern India that we inhabit today.

A journey that the country commenced in 1991, Montec Singh AHLUWALIA is an economist, a policy visionary, and also a civil servant who, along with the then-prime minister Manmohan Singh, played a pivotal role in steering India during its 1991 economic crisis. A moment of near default, where the country had to pledge its gold to keep the economy afloat. He served as the deputy chairman of the planning commission from 2004 to 2014, holding the rank of cabinet minister, and before that, he was the first director of the Independent Evaluation Office of the IMF.

Today we go behind the scenes of that 1991 crisis, what really happened in those 10 stays, battles that were fought in the coridoors of power and how india chose the path of liberalisation, we will also look ahead to the turbulence of the present moment, global trade wars, tariff barriers, and the new era of supply chain of geo politics, what does all of this mean to india and how do we charte the path forward.

This is a rare and candid conversation with a man who has seen it all from Washington to New Delhi and has helped shape India's economic destiny. Montec Singh AHLUWALIA, the man with the perennial blue turban, welcome to the program!