Obituary: Tulsi Tanti, Father of India’s Renewable Energy sector, dies at 64
Ahmedabad: Tulsi Tanti, the driving force behind India’s wind revolution, passed away after a massive cardiac arrest on Saturday last weekend at 64.
The wind energy pioneer, founder chairperson, and Managing Director of Suzlon Energy suffered a cardiac arrest while he was on his way from Ahmedabad to Pune, a company official said.
He is survived by his wife, daughter Nidhi and son Pranav, reports said.
Tanti, born in Rajkot in 1958, graduated from Gujarat University. He served as the President of the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association and as the chairperson of the Belgian turbine component manufacturer, ZF Wind Power Antwerpen, since May 10, 2006.
Tanti conceptualized the end-to-end solution to create realistic avenues for businesses to ‘Go Green.’ With the establishment of Suzlon Energy in 1995, Tanti became the driving force behind India’s wind revolution.
When global companies dominated the wind energy market and were characterized by expensive and complex technologies that were mainly unviable for traditional enterprises, he saw an opportunity in the Indian renewable energy sector.
He emerged as a strategic partner in developing sustainable businesses. Under his leadership, Suzlon emerged as a prominent player in the global renewable energy market. His vision led to Suzlon setting up its R&D centers in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and India, employing hundreds of engineers.
A one-time billionaire, Tanti, who studied commerce and engineering, had entrepreneurship in his genes. Spurning his father’s construction business, he, along with his three brothers, started a textile business. When faced with the soaring electricity costs, Tanti commissioned two windmills for their textile factory. That gave him the idea of jumping into wind energy. He founded Suzlon in 1995 with his brothers by selling some family property to raise USD 600,000 as seed capital.
“Our country needs power for its economic growth, and clean, green power is the best option,” Tanti told Forbes in 2006 when he broke into the billionaire ranks with a net worth of USD 1.4 billion. He had listed Suzlon in 2005. By 2007, Tanti and his brothers were collectively worth USD 10 billion and Suzlon became the world’s most valuable maker of wind turbines. He also won a hotly contested bid to acquire German rival Repower for USD 2 billion.
But quality issues adversely affected Suzlon. Tanti dropped out of India’s richest ranks in 2012. Weighed down by debt, they forced Suzlon to sell off some assets to pay back loans. Today, the Tantis own nearly 15 percent, worth USD 156 million—but all of their shares are pledged as collateral for loans.
Being a first mover in wind, Suzlon currently has about a third of India’s installed base with 13.5 gigawatts operational and a footprint overseas covering 17 countries.
(VP)
