US University Confers Inaugural Award On ReNew Power CEO

Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) conferred  the inaugural “Distinguished Alumni Award” on Sumant Sinha, the founder, chairman and CEO of ReNew Power.

A press release issued by SIPA on May 9 reads, “Sinha, the founder, chairman, and CEO of ReNew Power, received the first Distinguished Alumni award. The awards, Alumni Association chair Brent Feigenbaum said, were created in 2021 “to honor alumni for their achievements and extraordinary contributions to improving their communities—locally, nationally, and globally—and for service to SIPA.”

Sinha graduated from SIPA with a master of international affairs degree in 1992 before founding ReNew Power in 2011 and has since single handedly led it to become India’s leading renewable energy company, with more than 12 GW in its portfolio.

SIPA also added in the same refrain, “Through his work at ReNew, which is one of India’s leading renewable energy companies, Sinha has been at the forefront of his country’s clean energy expansion. He is recognized around the world as a leading entrepreneur and advocate for sustainable development and solutions to climate change,”

Speaking on the occasion Sinha expressed gratitude to SIPA for helping him become what he is, “We are the largest private sector renewable company in India. Over the years we have demonstrated that the cost of renewables can be brought down, helped create an ecosystem of hiring people training them. And now we are at the point where we are demonstrating the technology of how to combine the renewables with the batteries, which is essential to managing the date of future.”

Other notable SIPA alumni include Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, CIA Director George Tenet, former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and William Clark Jr, a former US ambassador to India.