News and Coverage
December 15, 2023
Leaders from the Indian public capital markets and private equity converged in Mumbai on Dec 15th at the Inaugural edition of the India Sustainable Investment Leadership Summit to define the pathways for sustainable investing in the Indian context.
Sustainable Investing in India today stands at nearly INR 245,000 Crores (USD 53 billion), revealed a study done by cKinetics and CFA Society, and deliberated at the event.
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September 12, 2023
cKinetics’ cCarbon.info, the decade-old specialist environmental market insights firm, has today launched a new web platform, aiming to bring proven, best-in-class carbon market forecasting and analysis expertise to an increasing range of environmental commodity markets. This newly designed platform aims to shift cCarbon.info from a data and analysis resource to being the cornerstone for its clients’ decision-making.
cCarbon.info, formerly known as CaliforniaCarbon.info, has the best-established track-record for carbon market forecasting across the North American region, but in recent times the company has expanded into other regional and global markets. Full in-depth coverage goes beyond all the North American Cap-and-Trade and Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) markets, to also include the European and UK Emission Trading Systems (EU ETS & UK ETS), as well as the global markets for corporate carbon credits (‘the VCM’), Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), and International Renewable Energy Credits (IRECs).
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March 17, 2021
Smart Joules, a pioneer in energy-efficiency-as-a-service, today announced it has completed a $4.1 million round of Series A funding aimed at expanding its offering across large commercial buildings and industries in India. The funding round saw participation by ADB Ventures (the Asian Development Bank’s venture arm), Sangam Ventures, Max I. Limited, cKinetics Accelerator, Mr. Saket Burman from the Dabur family and 6 other marquee angels from India and the US.
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June 25, 2020
While almost 140 government interventions focus directly or/and indirectly on clean energy and startups and SMEs, only 38 policies actually target SMEs in the clean energy ecosystem, making it difficult for SMEs to reap the benefits of the provisions, the report WWF-cKinetics report said. Download the report here.
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April 30, 2020
COVID-19 crisis has highlighted several existing systemic gaps in services, especially to the rural poor. Inadequate healthcare infrastructure is one of them. Over 39,000 sub-centres, the first point of contact between primary healthcare system and the community, serving 230 million people in rural India lack electricity. Decentralised renewable energy could play a significant role in solving this problem quickly and affordably for less than Rs 30 per person in initial capital expenditure.
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March 11, 2020
California-based New Energy, which supports clean energy businesses, said in a statement it invested in the Indian company through the cKers Finance Sustainable Energy Bond.cKers Finance will use the funds to grow the distributed residential and commercial solar energy segments, including solar systems and pumps. It will also use the capital to invest in emerging energy service company models that focus on promoting energy efficiency
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February 13, 2020
cKinetics announced its acquisition of CaliforniaCarbon.info, an emissions data analytics platform covering the Californian and Western Climate Initiative (WCI) carbon markets. Launched in 2013, CaliforniaCarbon.info offers emissions data and price forecasts for all jurisdictions across the WCI carbon program. It also generates analytical content covering the allowance and carbon offset market, alongside tracking policy design and legal risks. more»
July 30, 2019
cKinetics Accelerator Trust helped support Award-winning documentary filmmaker Snehasis Das in producing a movie to create awareness on climate change. The film reflects the displacement of the fishermen community due to climate change in coastal Odisha. It has won international acclaim having bagged multiple awards. more»
January 30, 2019
Decentralized Renewable Energy (DRE) solutions have played an important role in ameliorating the situation of energy access in the country and hold the key to poverty alleviation through solutions for productive uses. Together with Goldman Sachs Center for Environmental Markets and cKinetics, The Climate Group is designing de-risking instruments to increase the availability of commercial debt for DRE solutions.
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January 28, 2019
Prepared by cKinetics, this GOGLA-commissioned report reveals the Indian market for solar lanterns and solar home systems is expected to grow to a size of up to USD 327 million by 2023.
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January 20, 2019
The India Initiative on DRE Financing (IIDF) is an initiative anchored by The Climate Group, in partnership with Goldman Sachs Center for Environmental Markets and cKinetics that focuses on innovating domestic financing for DRE in keeping with the latest market trends.
A convening was organized at the Climate Week NYC 2019 to present key market insights on DRE and a pilot financing structure designed with local partnerships while exploring the role of international agencies to scale it. The convening saw participation by all key stakeholders including financiers, catalysts, and DRE enterprises.
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October 08, 2018
The government has an ambitious target to achieve 40 gigawatt (GW) of rooftop solar by 2022, which would play a significant role in solving the energy access issue in India. However, the development of rooftop solar in India is not progressing as planned with only 2.53 GW of installed rooftop solar capacity. In a recent study for the US-India Catalytic Solar Finance Program, which is a joint program of the Indian government and US Foundations, researchers from cKinetics and Climate Policy Initiative propose the use of a Credit Guarantee Mechanism (CGM) to overcome the key barriers in accessing debt financing, usually payment delay and/or payment default, for rooftop solar for the MSMEs. more»
September 17, 2018
The Innovations arm of the California Clean Energy Fund announced that it is investing $3 million in cKers Finance’s Sustainable Energy Bond issuance for India.
Pawan Mehra, Director and CIO of cKers Finance shared “This issuance keeps us on track to reach our near term $40m goal. A unique feature of these bonds is that they are viable at issuance sizes of $2-5m, which is unlike large green bond issuances which are usually larger than $50m. We have made that possible by standardizing processes and building an ecosystem of partners to support this”
December 13, 2017
Recently launched cKers Finance (pronounced ‘seekers’) has made a series of 5 investments in quick succession. They cover several emerging segments: rooftop solar, solar home systems and solar pumps. The project financier is actively building its portfolio in other decentralized renewable energy segments including micro-grids. This was revealed by Jayant Prasad, Executive Director, on the sidelines of ‘Intersolar India’ just concluded in Mumbai. more»
November 4, 2017
‘Drops before the rain? – India Sustainable and Responsible Investing Landscape 2017’ report by Oxfam India and cKinetics launched at NSE, estimates the present capital deployed with SRI strategies in India and also maps the investor perceptions on the sustainable and responsible investing landscape in the country. more»
August 26, 2017
cKinetics recently released the state of sector report on GHG emissions in the Indian Small and Medium enterprise sector. The report takes a stock of the current level of GHG emissions in the Ceramics, Foundry, Forging & Steel re-rolling sector using a bottom-up model and also describes the current best practices and energy efficiency measures in these sectors. more»
June 26, 2017
cKinetics is proud to be an implementing partner with IFC – International Finance Corporation in Vietnam to engage the industry and drive $9m+ of Sustainability related investments in the past year alone. more»
June 19, 2017
The report titled Sustainability and Cosmetics releases as sustainability comes to the fore in the cosmetics and personal care industry. It profiles the sustainability actions of the global cosmetics giants including Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, Unilever, Avon, Beiersdorf and Estee Lauder among others. more»
April 26, 2017
We at cKinetics are proud to announce the launch of our Sustainability Action Report and UNGC Communication of Progress. The report also contains our Business Responsibility Report (BRR). Our adherence to UNGC principles and the BRR are purely voluntary disclosures which validate our commitment to be a responsible, transparent and accountable business. The report is also an impact document that summarizes the impact we have made in terms of resources saved, clean energy enabled and lives impacted. more»
February 15, 2017
Sustainability Outlook (a division of cKinetics) released March to Sustainability: Zero Liquid Discharge, an in-depth market assessment of the industrial effluent recycling market. The study quantifies the market opportunity for ZLD at USD 4 billion (INR 270 billion) across five water intensive and highly polluting industries in India, i.e. Thermal Power (coal fired), Distillery (molasses based), Iron & Steel, Textile (wet processing) and Pulp & Paper (large wood based) by 2020.
This market assessment report is a primer for Zero Liquid Discharge in India, which describes the current scenario, illustrates the outlook for 2020 and quantifies the market opportunity with a focus on five highly polluting and water intensive industries, i.e. Thermal Power (Coal fired), Distillery (molasses based), Iron & Steel, Textile (wet processing) and Pulp & Paper (large wood based).more»
Dec 02, 2016
The 2016 Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards was hosted by Sustainability Outlook (a division of cKinetics) in New Delhi recognizing large corporates, emerging innovators and individuals leading the charge in the sustainability space.
Mahindra Group was recognized with the coveted Leadership in Sustainability Strategy awards for integrating sustainability into their DNA and setting the bar on alignment of sustainability policies with corporate strategy, organizational design and goals.Several innovative solutions spanning across smart resource efficiency, sustainable consumer engagement and alternate materials were recognized at the awards this time.more»
October 13,2016
In the latest issue of PAT Pulse, Sustainability Outlook (a division of cKinetics) and AEEE have explored the dynamics of industrial energy efficiency market from a financing point of view. The key objectives of this brief are to analyze the most optimal financing routes to realize the investment potential presented in the energy efficiency domain in PAT sectors (excluding thermal power sector) and to assess strengthening measures needed for achieving a successful and sustainable trajectory for industrial energy efficiency market in India.more»
Jul 01, 2016
Achieving performance efficiency and cost savings through optimization of Overall Equipment Effectiveness is likely to define the next wave of Industrial Energy Efficiency. Sustainability Outlook (a division of cKinetics) explored the prevalence, drivers, business case and key challenges for IoT based Smart Manufacturing (SM) solutions in Indian industry.more»
May 26, 2016, New Delhi
cKers Finance received the PACEsetter Funds Award at a function presided by current US Ambassador to India, Mr. Richard R. Verma and Dr. Upendra Tripathy, Secretary, MNRE at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. cKers Finance was selected for the award for its innovative approach to providing long-term debt financing to technology-backed interventions in the sustainability space.
The PACEsetter Fund is a Rs. 500 million (USD 7.9 million) fund jointly capitalized by the Indian and United States governments. The fund is administered by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), New Delhi.more»
May 19, 2016, New Delhi
cKinetics released its Sustainability Action Report for 2015 which details the impact we made in terms of saving resources, generating renewable energy and promoting conversations on sustainability in the year gone by.
The report signifies our adherence to the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact (UNGC) across our operations. It also includes a Business Responsibility Report (BRR) which covers our activities related to environment, stakeholder relationships, governance and other areas. As an unlisted organization, our BRR disclosure is a purely voluntary exercise which we do as part of our aim to be a transparent, responsible and accountable organization.more»
May 09, 2016
The May 2016 issue of PAT Pulse released by Sustainability Outlook (a division of cKinetics) finds that Industrial Energy efficiency has the potential to be a Rs 34,000 crore market in India. Cross-sectoral interventions such as Variable Frequency Drives (VFD), Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) account for 21% and 24% of the estimated investment potential respectively and key sectoral BATs accounting for 52%.
Among sectors, Chlor Alkali (95%) and Aluminium (74%) sectors have the maximum percentage of the total sectoral investment potential in process linked interventions while textile (5%) has the least.
Enhanced technical competencies of service providers, need for market making mechanism Robust ESCO financing models are ingredients for faster scaling up of energy efficiency investments in Indian industries.more»
Mar 30, 2016, New Delhi
cKinetics announces the launch of cKers Finance – an innovation led market-maker venture for debt financing of sustainable energy in India. Resulting from our strategic and long standing partnership with the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship at IIM Ahmedabad, cKers Finance is industry’s first sustainability oriented project financing platform. It has been backed by Infuse Ventures.
cKers Finance will operate as a new age Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) geared to develop innovative financing solutions as well as establish financing-benchmarks in newer market segments.
Jayant Prasad joins the team as an Executive Board Member. An IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, Jayant brings with him 18 years of experience in banking and in building financing products.
Jan 05, 2016, New Delhi
The January 2016 issue of PAT Pulse launched by Sustainability Outlook (a division of cKinetics) looks at the performance of the Perform-Achieve-Trade (PAT) scheme, which was formulated to achieve energy-efficiency in Indian industries by facilitating a market based mechanism.
Sustainability Outlook conducted a survey with a sample of 47 Designated Consumers (DCs) from the 8 PAT sectors and reviewed 426 projects undertaken. The survey revealed that DCs in the first phase were focused on addressing efficiency mainly through retrofits and routine optimization, implying that the first phae of PAT was characterized by low capex, short pay-back projects.more»
December 04 2015, New Delhi
Textile manufacturing is amongst the largest industrial users of water and is poised for transformation towards a water wise future. The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and Sustainability Outlook have teamed up to analyse the trends on how the textile industry is evolving in some key production centres, based on data and information gathered, analysed and collated from the Sweden Textile Water Initiative’s Global Projects.
The report captures the 2015 policy action in major textile manufacturing countries like China, India, and Bangladesh etc which are helping textile sector in their respective countries to move towards sustainable manufacturing: be it the Zero Liquid Discharge mandate in India or the Water 10 Action Plan in China.more»
October 16 2015, New Delhi
There is growing confidence among industry that by improving the overall resource efficiency, green chemistry can provide financial benefits to chemical companies from lower material usage, energy and capital expenditure costs in addition to environmental benefits. Moreover, the export oriented industries like Textile, Pharmaceutical and Pesticides are under pressure to find greener alternatives to comply with regulations in major export markets like Europe and United States. Indian industry has started taking small steps towards incorporating these principles while developing green chemistry solutions and approaches.more»
October 16, 2015
Recently the Indian government’s revised draft policy for IoT, 2015 recognizes the spurge that is going to take place in internet connected devices and therefore pushes for leveraging India’s strength as a leader in the global service industry by creating an IoT ecosystem in the country. It has set a target of creating an IoT industry of USD 15 billion by 2020 and estimates 2.7 billion connected devices by then.
While IoT is set to become the next big backbone of local and global communication with its reach in different verticals- healthcare, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, security, disaster management etc., it also carries with it a massive potential become a key driver for sustainability- cutting across all verticals.
Taking conservative estimates, India will account for 5-6% of the global IoT market or a total of USD 15 billion by 2020; and the government is looking to engage all stakeholders and build an IoT ecosystem.more»
October 16, 2015
Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) guidelines were recently introduced for four industrial sectors in India. These sectors would be required to set up systems which will treat the wastewater as well as recover dissolved chemicals so that water can be again used in factory operations. These sectors are: Textile (wet processing), Tanneries, Distilleries and Pulp & Paper (Zero Effluent Discharge mandate).
The report sheds light on the following issues: current policy scenario for ZLD in India, value chain associated with ZLD system and the the key drivers and challenges for ZLD in different industry segments.more»
October 15 2015, New Delhi
Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) is usually seen as being capital intensive with upfront investment. In reality, ZLD is about optimizing long term operating cost. iZLD is an offering developed by cKinetics that helps arrive at the optimal mix between upfront investment and ongoing expenses.
The offering was launched at the Annual Summit of the Sustainable Business Leadership Forum. “iZLD is about optimizing operating cost as well as upfront investment. This is especially important because operating cost ends up being significantly higher than the upfront investment in the long term.”, shared Anshul Chawla, cKinetics. iZLD optimizes 7 parameters and introduces the concept of ‘Levelized Cost of Water’.more»
October 15, 2015, New Delhi
cKinetics’ division Sustainability Outlook announced the 2015 Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards recognizing large corporates leading the charge on Sustainability in India as well as emerging innovators developing cutting edge solutions.
Amongst the winners, Thermax, UrjaGreen Technologies and Schneider Electric were recognized for their work in driving leadership in sustainable spaces and facilities. Mahindra and Mahindra’s Nashik plant was felicitated for its leadership in sustainable production.
International Paper’s Farm Forestry Initiative was picked as the winner in the category of “Corporate Branding Actions for Sustainability”. At the same time, emerging marketplace, Glowship.com (from Energystar Technologies) was picked for driving consumer engagement actions towards sustainability.This year saw several innovators in emerging areas getting traction.
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September 05 2015, New Delhi
As urbanization is set to almost double in India by 2050, the waste in the cities is expected to grow by over 4 times as a result of increased levels of income and consumption – presenting both a challenge and an opportunity. With the announcement of forward thinking plans like ‘100 Smart Cities Initiative’ and the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, the Government of India is clearly working towards creating smarter and cleaner cities with a focus on urban waste management. The VOW: Value Out of Waste report assesses the business opportunity and investment potential presented by this focus on waste management at USD 1.5 Billion.more»
April 1, 2015, New Delhi
With an increasing thrust towards driving resources management across global textile supply chains, the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and cKinetics have launched a collaborative network in India. The network aims to facilitate exchange of expertise, learnings, best-practices, knowledge and data between its members, and provides factories in India (as well as globally in future) with added-value created through continuous engagement.
The MoU to build the network was signed by Torgny Holmgren, Executive Director, SIWI and Upendra Bhat, Managing Director, cKinetics on occasion of the UN World Water Day 2015 in the presence of a number of Swedish and Indian businesses and other stakeholders at the Swedish Embassy. Sustainability Outlook’s Sustainability Business Leadership Forum would act as the secretariat to the network.more»
March 26, 2015
Based on industry conversations, it is expected that 65-70% of the Designated Consumer (DC) units would be able to meet the PAT targets under first cycle. By a conservative estimate, 5200 million KWh of energy has been saved due to measures undertaken by DCs under the PAT mandate. This equates into an avoided expenditure on energy of at least INR 5500 crore resulting from the measures undertaken by DCs in the PAT sectors.
Going into the second cycle of PAT, the report conceptualises an outlook for the scheme from a Designated Consumers (DC) perspective with a focus on using Energy Saving Certificates (ESCerts) to build an internal business case.
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March 15, 2015
E-commerce is changing the way people shop globally. Over the last two decades, multi-billion dollar e-commerce companies have come into being. Even as they see increasing scale and success, e-commerce companies have not turned their focus on environmental sustainability – in stark contrast to the initiatives on sustainable production and consumption undertaken by world’s leading retailers like Walmart and Ikea.
Realizing the acute need for the e-commerce industry to start thinking about their environmental impact, Sustainability Outlook delved deep into e-commerce operations to create an E-commerce Sustainability Quotient Matrix. The E-commerce Sustainability Quotient Matrix will help guide e-commerce companies to assess their preparedness and current state when it comes to environmentally sustainable operations. This matrix also provides an indicative path that e-commerce companies should embark upon to make their operations greener. more»
March 11, 2015, New Delhi
The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) signed an MoU with cKinetics. The MoU was signed by Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, DG & CEO, IICA and Shri Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director, cKinetics. The objective of the MoU is to explore and discuss methods of collaboration to drive the adoption of sustainable business practices within businesses operating in India, by building knowledge, tools and business cases for the same, with particular focus on Water and Waste initiatives. more»
February 17, 2015, New Delhi
IRENA’s event on the sidelines of RE-INVEST on Financing Challenges for Small and Medium-scale Renewable Energy Projects, featured a presentation by Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director. more »
February 6, 2015, New Delhi
cKinetics was the knowledge partner at the National Conference on Waste to Wealth organized by ASSOCHAM. The report ‘Value out of Waste: the USD 1.5 Billion opportunity for India’ was released at the event. Delivering the theme address in the technical plenary, Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director of cKinetics said, “With the impending resource shortage, it is imperative that waste management be viewed not just as a necessity but also as an opportunity to create closed loop systems thus presenting a pathway for growth in a resource constrained world. Urban waste management has the potential to emerge as a key market for the Indian industry in the years to come and the private sector needs to embrace this opportunity.” more»
January 16, 2015, New Delhi
The textile sector is the single largest contributor to industrial Waste Water in the world. cKinetics shared the methodology and approach it has been using to work across the textile value chain. This included the concepts of Value Added Water and Embodied Value of Water as they pertain to the textile production. more»
January 15, 2015
The Indian construction industry is expecting to see a growth of 6.6% annually, with reports indicating that 70% of India’s buildings are yet to be built. Construction and related manufacturing activities have typically contributed to about 25% of the nation’s carbon emissions and this figure is only expected to rise in the future.
While improving energy and resource efficiency of manufacturing processes is the most frequently suggested solution, using alternative Sustainable Materials may prove to have a larger impact on reducing environmental impact of construction activities. The concept of sustainable construction entails moving away from using materials that require large quantities of energy, water and non-renewable natural resources for manufacturing, and using materials which have a lower environmental impact.
The report finds that the use of sustainable materials in the construction industry has a large market, particularly in the case of products like sustainable bricks and recycled aggregates which present a great potential market in India.more»
.December 9, 2014, New Delhi
A cross-section of representatives from the energy sector in India gathered on December 9, 2014, to discuss a critical conundrum faced by the giant South
Asia nation: How to deliver on the new government’s election promise to extend access to energy to 400 million people without electricity, while also containing, if not reducing, the heavy burden on the environment. Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director of cKinetics, shared perspectives on the market space for investments in off-grid/mini grids and energy efficiency. more »
October 16 2014, New Delhi
The Embodied Value of Water Framework was introduced in the Water as a Business Risk session at the 4th Annual CXO Summit of the Sustainable Business Leadership Forum. EVW provides a platform for cross-industry collaboration on acquifier / basin-levelinterventions that will enable equitable sharing of costs, benefits & risks mitigation based on the value of water to an industry player, not just the volume or water footprint alone. more»
October 16 2014, New Delhi
21 Industry Leaders including ITC, HPCL, Kirloskar Oil Engines, Schneider Electric and ITC Windsor felicitated at the Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards 2014.
The Parivartan Awards recognize and showcase businesses and thought leaders that have implemented resource efficiency measures for making their products processes, facilities and operations sustainable. Industry Leaders like ITC, Hindustan Petroleum, Kirloskar Oil Engines and ITC Windsor were felicitated for implementing practices for efficient resource management in their production and manufacturing processes, operations and/or facilities. Some of the other winners included sustainability innovators like Maven Systems, Pratibha Syntex, SepraTECH, SIMS Recycling, Clean Motion and more.
The Awards also felicitated sustainability leaders, thinkers and doers from the Indian industry who have been at the forefont of creating change in their organizations and catalysing sustainability conversations in the industry. The Entrepreneur of the Year was Aditya Handa, MD and CEO, Abellon Clean Energy; the Emerging Leader of the Year was Kiran Sarkar, Mahindra and Mahindra; and the Executive of the Year was Roshan Tamak, Business Head- Sugar, Olam Agro.more »
October 16 2014, New Delhi
Over 250 sustainability leaders driving Indian businesses converged in New Delhi on October 16th at the Annual Summit of the Sustainable Business Leadership Forum, the country’s leading industry event on Resource sustainability discourse.
The Summit shaped conversation on five key themes a) resource efficiency in manufacturing processes and operations b) transitions towards creating sustainable cities c) disclosure around Environment, Social and Governance Parameters to create transparency d) new age urban ecosystems e) water as a business risk.
Some of the key speakers included Suresh Prabhu, Former Union Minister for Environment; Shri K C Mehra, Chairman SKF Bearings; Shri Deepak Gupta, Former Secretary MNRE and Dr. Rajendra Shende, Chair of TERRE Policy center amongst others. The Summit was convened by cKinetics’ division Sustainability Outlook. more »
September 1 2014, Stockholm
Pawan Mehra, Managing Director, cKinetics, shared the impact of using concepts of Embodied Value of Water and Value Added Water in order to help build the business case to work on water and waste water. The approach leverages the nexus between Water-Energy and Water-Chemicals nexus. The presentation was shared with cKinetics’ global partners SIWI, Indiska, KappAhl and Lindex at the World Water Week. more »
July 18 2014, Chennai
Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director, cKinetics, was a panelist sharing views on financing in Off-grid Renewable Energy systems. The views addressed points related to affordable financing for accelerating the adoption of renewable energy technologies. Discuss also centred around Asset Management and Risk faced by developers. more »
May 14, 2014, New Delhi
The two major investment conversations were anchored by Sustainability Outlook (division of cKinetics) around working towards zero liquid discharge of hazardous chemicals and facilitating the roll-out of rooftop solar in textile industrial spaces. These conversations emerged at ‘Convening Green Manufacturing Leaders’ – an invite only, industry specific CXO sharing session designed to align together technology solution providers and operational heads around sustainability market risks, trends and solution implementation. more »
April 29, 2014, New Delhi
Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director, cKinetics, spoke on off-grid system business models at the Conference on Solar & Decentralized Solar PV System organized by Solar Energy Society of India (SESI). more »
cKinetics, GIZ and Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs and other partners organized a convening with investors to work on a guide that investors can use with their portfolio as they engage on ESG actions and discloures. This is part of the ongoing work of the Sustainable Business Leadership Forum. more »
January 1, 2014, New Delhi
cKinetics releases its 2013 Sustainability Action Report and Communication of Progress to the UN Global Compact. The report also includes disclosure as per the as per the format of the ABRR (Annual Business Responsibility Report) that has been suggested by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (and adopted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India for the top 100 listed companies). The disclosure is voluntary and perhaps amongst the first by an unlisted services firm. more »
Nov 1 2013, New Delhi
A recent research study by the working group on sustainability disclosure and reporting under the Sustainable Business Leadership Forum (SBLF) which analyzed the changing landscape and actions by Indian businesses and their supply chain surrounding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) parameters found increased management of impact metrics related to ESG but the lack of disclosure of performance regarding the same. This new focus on measuring, managing and disclosing non-financial metrics comes amidst an increasing demand from global customers and investors for ESG data as well as greater regulatory interest.
This work was an outcome of the work by the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (Policy Lead), cKinetics, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Impact Investment Policy Collaborative (in association with the Initiative for Responsible Investment at Harvard University) who had convened a working group to facilitate a conversation about the expectations, concerns, challenges and realities surrounding ESG measurement/management/disclosure in the Indian market. more »
October 17, 2013, New Delhi
12 industry leading organizations including HUL, Marks & Spencer, Infosys, GSECL, Attero, Eram Scientific, ACC and Schneider feature amongst winners of the 2013 Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards. Changing customer and consumption outlook emerges as a central tenet of India Inc.’s sustainability lens.
Instituted by Sustainability Outlook (division of cKinetics), the Award winners were arrived at after a rigorous 3 step review entailing an initial outreach of over 600 nominations and a shortlist of 60 finalists was judged by an eminent 6 member jury headed by Suresh Prabhu, Former Cabinet Minister; Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General and CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affair; K.C. Mehra, Chairman, National Board for Quality Promotion;
Dr. David Dornfeld, Chair Professor of Sustainability and Manufacturing, University of California at Berkeley; M. K. Venu, Executive Editor, The Hindu and Dr. Jahar Saha Former Director, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad more »
October 17 2013, New Delhi
Over 250 sustainability leaders driving Indian businesses converged in New Delhi on October 17 th at the Annual Summit of the Sustainable Business Leadership Forum to redefine customer engagement strategies and leveraging sustainability investments to shape ‘Sustainable Brands’.
This year’s summit shaped around ‘Rethinking Consumption’ focused on three key themes: ‘Sustainability as an avenue for crafting marketing and branding success’; ‘Mainstreaming sustainability standards’; and ‘Finding Capital to drive sustainability’. Sustainability leaders from large businesses such as ITC, Nokia, TVS Motors, Essar and Kirloskar; from investors such as IL&FS, YES Bank and IFC; from PSUs such as GSECL, BPCL and NSIC; from catalyst organizations such as CDP, GRI, ICAI, UN Global Compact; and other voices shaping the dialog deliberated on ways of creating Sustainability-led advantage. more »
October 17 2013, New Delhi
Decentralized Renewable Energy (DRE) based rural electrification is a rapidly emerging sector in India. Investors are just beginning to understand the business model, commercial viability, risks and opportunities that this sector presents.
This cKinetics report provides a perspective on opportunities, gaps and directions for financing in this emerging sector. It is not only meant to be primer but also serve as a resource guide. Analysis of the top 4 states in India which are most deficient in electricity supply (namely Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand) reveals that there exists an immediate power requirement of atleast 553MW in around 30,000 villages which can be
met through rural DRE mini-grids. more »
September 1-6 2013, Stockholm
Pawan Mehra, Managing Director, cKinetics, was at the World Water Week and presented cKinetics’ work in Program SWAR that is geared towards Sustainable Water and Resources Management. The program partners renewed the commitment for 2014. more »
August 23 2013, New Delhi
Aparna Khandelwal, Engagement Manager, cKinetics, was at the workshop by New Ventures Initiative and GIZ to identify opportunities for corporations to take energy products and services in off-grid areas. more »
July 7-11 2013, London
Shradha Kapur, Engagement Manager, cKinetics, presented activities of the Sustainable Finance working group of Sustainable Business Leadership Forum at the 2013 convening of the Impact Investing Policy Collaborative being held in Oxford and London. The conversation focused on ESG disclosure and reporting actions in India based on cKinetics’ research findings from Cracking the Conundrum. more »
June 28 2013, Hyderabad
Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director, cKinetics, was a panelist at the International Conference & Exposition on Renewable Energy Technologies that discussed Sustainable Development funding schemes for mini-grid renewable energy projects. . more »
April, 2013, New Delhi
cKinetics’ division Sustainability Outlook launched the 3rd edition of the Parivartan Awards. This year the awards builds on the search for leaders and adds a few new categories that have been shaped to reward both innovative and impactful initiatives. New categories include Industry Sustainability Compass Awards, Sustainable Brand of the Year and theSustainability Finance Leadership Awards. The awards span across several verticals: Chemicals, Textile, Food, Pharma, Auto sector, etc. The awards will be given at the sidelines of the Sustainable Business Leadership Forum on October 17th, 2013. more »
February 16, 2012, New Delhi
Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director, cKinetics, shared how different RE technologies that can be deployed to meet the energy demands of telecom towers at the CII roundtable convened on the subject. This was also used to help identify key policy interventions required. more »
January 2013, New Delhi
Investors targeting India are not only interested in Environmental and Social (E&S) information, they are also investing more in businesses, which are progressive in terms of E&S disclosure and reporting. This was the finding of recent research released titled Cracking the Conundrum by cKinetics, which for the first time, provided conclusive evidence linking E&S disclosure and investment in Indian businesses. As per the latest estimates developed by cKinetics, a select group of investors (referred to as Finance+ investors) represent Rs 3 trillion ($55 billion) in India, which is 1% of the world’s total responsible capital. In addition to this, Indian and Global banks are lending Rs 4.4 trillion ($80 billion) to sectors, in which E&S factors are considered. Their Assets Under Management (AUM) is expected to grow from Rs3 trillion ($55 billion) presently to Rs5.5 trillion – Rs9.6 trillion ($100 billion – $175 billion) in 5 years and forecasted to be at Rs13.2 trillion – Rs17.3 trillion ($240 billion – $315 billion) in 10 years. more »
October 11, 2012, New Delhi
cKinetics alongwith GIZ and the Impact Investing Policy Collaborative (IIPC) announced an Environmental and Social (E&S) Disclosure and Reporting working group focused at shaping frameworks for leveraging existing institutions to advance disclosure of impact
in businesses. more »
October 11, 2012, New Delhi
Multi-business conglomerate ITC, Textile leader Welspun, Oil major BPCL, IT majors TCS and Wipro and banking leader IndusInd Bank were amongst 14 large and small Indian corporates that bagged the Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards for 2012. The awards were presented at the evening plenary of the Annual Summit of the Sustainable Business Leadership Forum, India’s first market development forum on Sustainability and Innovation, held in New Delhi on October 11, 2012. The Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards, instituted by the cKinetics division Sustainability Outlook, are a platform to uncover and recognize progressive corporates, service providers, and individuals whose efforts serve as catalyst for advancing sustainability in India.more »
October 11, 2012, New Delhi
Over 250 sustainability leaders driving Indian businesses converged in New Delhi on October 11th at the Annual Summit of the Sustainable Business Leadership Forum to define the new Sustainability agenda: moving away from Sustainability investments as a means of risk mitigation to leveraging it for competitive advantage in operations. The event featuring several key figures from the country’s policy and business circles focused upon the sustainability imperatives facing the organizations as also ways in which these seemingly ‘painful’ and ‘cost inducing efforts’ can be successfully converted into newer business lines and revenue sources. The Sustainable Business Leadership Forum is instituted by Sustainability Outlook, a division of cKinetics. more »
September 20-21, 2012, New Delhi
Pawan Mehra, participated in the GLTE India Infrastructure Partnership Roundtable sharing perspectives on regional dynamism impacting India’s businesses and drivers for a low carbon sustainable
roadmap.
September 4-6, 2012, Bengaluru
Aparna Khandelwal from cKinetics presented a paper on how businesses can use sustainability related compliance as an opportunity to gain market advantage. more »
July 27, 2012, New Delhi
Aparna Khandelwal, Engagement Manager, cKinetics participated at the convening of United Nations Global Compact India member network, and shared perspectives on Rio+20 and the increasing role of businesses.
July 19, 2012 , Boulder, Colorado
cKinetics is pleased to support the Unreasonable Institute. Pawan Mehra, Managing Director, cKinetics joins the Unreasonable Institute as a Mentor for 3rd year in a row. This year saw cKinetics also participate as an investor.
July 11, 2012, Bengaluru
cKinetics was invited to present its approach for helping manufacturing units create an energy-GHG management plan. Solutions developed under cKinetics’ Resource Management Platform were presented.
July 6, 2012, New Delhi
Pawan Mehra, Managing Director, cKinetics shared his views as a speaker on the investors perspective in shaping responsible business actions at the 5th Business Responsibility Summit organized by AIMA. more »
June 20, 2012, Rio de Janeiro
Pawan Mehra, Managing Director, cKinetics joins the advisory board of the Impact Investing Policy Collaborarive. The platform was announced at the sidelines of the Rio+20 launch at an event hosted by the Brazilian Bank BNDES. more »
June 15-18, 2012, Rio de Janeiro
As a UNGC member, two senior members from the cKinetics team participated in the deliberations for a Global Call for Corporate Sustainability. more »
June 11, 2012
The Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards are an annual initiative to recognize Sustainability innovations in Indian businesses. Building on the success of the 2011 Parivartan awards, it presents a unique opportunity for sharing of best practices and business cases amongst Indian businesses. The Award site is www.ParivartanAwards.in more »
May 25, Bengaluru
cKinetics along with Confederation of Indian Industries convened a workshop with potential developers to introduce SPEED concept to potential ESCO s with in-depth discussions on the business opportunity.
May 19, 2012, New Delhi
cKinetics was knowledge partner with NITRA and BEE in the seminar held at the conclusion of the 1st cycle of the PAT (Perform-Achieve-Trade) scheme under National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE).
The program was held with the Designated Consumers of the Textile sector participating. Pawan Mehra, Managing Director, cKinetics led the session outlining Opportunity and Challenges for Energy Efficiency in the Textile Sector:
May 18, 2012, New Delhi
cKinetics hosted the first in a series of private invitation-only event to provide an interactive platform to connect Companies, Investors, Policy Makers and other Market Makers. With an address from Dr Ashok Khosla, thought leaders on sustainability issues came together to identify market based solutions to deal with the challenges of sustainability, as India looks to accelerate its growth trajectory. more »
May 18, 2012, New Delhi
As part of its ongoing work in the area of Sustainability reporting and disclosure, cKinetics convened investors, policy makers and standards bodies in a roundtable to explore the business case for standardization of Environmental and Social performance indicators; and how would impact the flow of capital. The roundtable was organized in association with GIZ and the Rockefeller Foundation. For more details see the “Cracking the Conundrum” research work. more »
May 3, New Delhi
cKinetics along with Confederation of Indian Industries convened a workshop with financial institutions to showcase the viability of the business models built around the SPEED (Smart Power for Environmentally-sound Economic Development) project.
February 7, 2012
Jyoti Deka, Senior Associate, cKinetics was invited to share his perspective on Climate Finance & G20 at “G20 India Dialogue Series – Connecting the Dots” organized by Youth for Policy and Dialogue. more »
November 29, 2011
Pawan Mehra, Managing Director of cKinetics gave a guest talk at the Institute of Apparel Management, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) campus on the importance of sustainability in the rapidly changing textile industry. more »
November 19, 2011
Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director of cKinetics is a panelist at the “Financing Low Carbon Strategies for Economic Growth and Development : Resource mobilization Challenges”. more »
November 14, 2011
Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director of cKinetics delivered the Theme Address at the National Conference on Waste to Wealth, organized by ASSOCHAM. more »
October 13, 2011
Pawan Mehra, Managing Director of cKinetics is a panelist at the “GLTE India Infrastructure Partnership Roundtable: The case for low-carbon infrastructure” session. more »
October 12, 2011
This interview was conducted by the market access and insights team of cKinetics and orginally published in the September 2011 issue of print publication Sustainability Outlook. more »
September 30, 2011
Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director of cKinetics presented on “Global trends on sustainability and its impact on your business”, and Mrs. Aparna Khandelwal, Senior Associate of cKinetics presented on “Economic advantage of energy optimization – Technology, investment and incentive” at the OGTC – Gateway to Apparel Manufacturers in India Conference. more »
September 1, 2011
On 30th August 2011, India Carbon Outlook, a division of cKinetics, organized a multi stakeholder roundtable on “Creating a Green Collar Workforce: Building careers and industry capacity in envirnonmental sustainability” attended by senior industry leaders, corporates and catalysts. more »
July 22, 2011
Aparna Khandelwal, cKinetics says that the current approach of annual financial reporting focuses on the short term, which does not meet the needs of investors and other stakeholders who would like to have a holistic view of the company’s performance and the ability to connect financial and sustainability results. more »
July 21, 2011
Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director of cKinetics was the session moderator for “Indian renewable energy sector – a lucrative destination for investment and long term benefits”. more »
June 21, 2011
Pawan Mehra is a mentor at the Unreasonable Institute in Boulder, Colorado, supporting fellows that are shaping next generation ideas to create a more sustainable future. more »
May 26, 2011
“Creating awareness is important. It is important to ensure sector participants do not see sustainability efforts as pure cost heads,” Upendra Bhatt, Managing Director of cKinetics, a consultancy, said. more »
March 27, 2011
Tetra Pak, Kirloskar Oil, TVS, Welspun and Infosys were among winners of Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards announced on March 24 and hosted by India Carbon Outlook. more »
March 25, 2011
The Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards, organized by India Carbon Outlook, seek to recognize Indian companies who have embraced sustainability in their business operations and supply chain. more »
January 11, 2011
“If the issues aren’t resolved, they could deter larger investors from participating in the projects under the solar mission,” Upendra Bhatt, managing director of cKinetics, a consultancy, said. more »
Date: December 3, Hyderabad
Upendra Bhatt, cKinetics co-founder, was a part of the selection jury for the iDiya Challenge- ISBs Social Ventures Idea competition.more »
November 11, 2010
A panel of investors discussed the barriers for equity investment and raising risk capital for grid-connected solar energy at DIREC 2010. The panel discussion was moderated by Upendra Bhatt from cKinetics and comprised of a healthy mix of solar project developers and leading equity investors. more »
Date(s): November 15-17, 2010
India Carbon Outlook collaborates with the International Solar Thermal Power Summit for a media partnership. more »
October 19, 2010
Pawan Mehra, Managing Director, participated in a panel on Sustainability and Innovations from Emerging Markets at the GreenBiz Innovation forum in San Francisco.more »
October 27-29, 2010
India Carbon Outlook collaborates with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy conference DIREC 2010 as a media partner. more »
September 17, 2010
cKinetics, a venture accelerator in the sustainability space, has offered to provide seed funding of up to Rs 10 lakhs for the best Environmental Sustainability idea at the ISB iDiya boot camp. more »
Date(s): September 07-08, 2010
India Carbon Outlook collaborates with the 1st Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Summit India 2010 for a media partnership. more »
Date(s): September 08-09, 2010
India Carbon Outlook collaborates with the India Carbon Market Conclave 2010 for a media partnership. more »
Date(s): August 26-27, 2010, Mumbai India
India Carbon Outlook collaborates with the Renewcon 2010 for a media partnership. more »
Roselin Dey selected as an International Climate Champion 2010
Roselin Dey from the India Carbon Outlook team of cKinetics was selected as an International Climate Champion by the British Council in partnership with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).more »
Date(s): August 18- September 18, 2010
India Carbon Outlook presents the “Sustain Ability: Leadership through Ideas” Contest to select two individuals who can mobilize communities with their ideas for sustainability. This contest will give them a platform to showcase their talent as well as reach the correct audience to influence change. >more »
June 07, 2010
It’s prudent to look at not only carbon, but also pressure points beyond carbon and address environmental sustainability as a whole, says Upendra Bhatt, managing director at cKinetics, a low-carbon venture accelerator. more »
June, 2010
cKinetics has come out with a report “Exporting Textiles: March to Sustainability” that maps supply chain sustainability initiatives by global brands and retailers in their textile procurement process. more »
Date(s): May 25-26, 2010, Srinagar India
India Carbon Outlook collaborates with the Green Solutions J&K 2010 for a media partnership. more »
May 18, 2010
Roselin Dey from India Carbon Outlook announced as a winner of the 2010 ‘Emerging Voice’ Sustainability Blogging Competition by The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and invited to attend the Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency.
April 30, 2010
A new report, release on April 29 by cKinetics, maps supply chain sustainability initiatives by global brands and retailers in their textile procurement process. more »
Date(s): March 26-27, 2010, Ahmedabad India
India Carbon Outlook collaborates with the Chemozale 2010 for a media partnership. more »
