BCC&I Sustainability National Forum

Born on 22nd September, 1959 in Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal. M. Sc in Organic Chemistry from University of North Bengal, Siliguri. Joined the IAS in 1985 and was allotted West Bengal cadre.

Worked as probationer in erstwhile Medinipur district; Sub-divisional officers of Tamluk and Durgapur; Additional District Magistrates of Coochbehar and erstwhile Burdwan districts; Chief Executive Officer, Haldia Development Authority; District Magistrates of Purulia and North 24-Parganas. Thereafter, at the State Level worked as Joint Secretary and Director of Panchayats and Rural Development Department and then as Director of Industries.

Joined the Power Sector in November, 2004 as the last Chairman of West Bengal State Electricity Board. Thereafter, held the charge of Chairman and Managing Director of both the restructured utilities, namely West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) and West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (WBSETCL). Thereafter, became the Power Secretary of the State and finally left the sector in October, 2013 after 9 (nine) years.

During this period, the Power Sector in West Bengal became vibrant and profitable. During this period, West Bengal State Electricity Board made profit for the first time in it's history. After restructuring of WBSEB, both the restructured utilities have been making profit consistently. During this period, the quality of power and consumer service improved tremendously while Rural Electrification led to almost universal coverage. During this period, the West Bengal State Power Utilities received numerous awards for their performance. A study by the World Bank found the West Bengal Power Sector reform as a sustainable and successful model for India and other developing countries.

After power sector, worked as Health Secretary of West Bengal and Home Secretary of West Bengal and finally as Chief Secretary of West Bengal. Retired from the post of Chief Secretary, West Bengal on 30th September, 2019 after serving in that position for 2 years and 3 months.

Working as a professional since October, 2020 providing corporate advisory services including financial, strategic, HR, operations, regulatory and governance related matters to different corporates.

Mr. Partha Sarathi Bhattacharyya, did his M.Sc (Physics) from Jadavpur University. He joined Coal India Ltd (CIL) as Management Trainee in 1977, rose to become its Chairman in 2006 and continued till retirement in Feb 2011. He steered CIL through Miniratna in 2007, Navratna in 2008 and finally Maharatna in 2011 - a unique feat in the career of any PSU CMD.

In 2010, Mr. Bhattacharyya spearheaded the Initial Public Offer (IPO) of 10% of CIL's equity. It met with resounding success and became a landmark event. The IPO was one of the top three in the world in that year and is still the largest in India so far.

Mr. Bhattacharyya has been featured in a document published by Tata McGraw Hill in 2011 as one of the transformation leaders of Corporate India. He was also recognized by Forbes Magazine as a High Achiever of 2010. He is recipient of a number of awards and accolades. Notable among these are CEO of the year 2010 from Indian Chamber of Commerce as well as World HRD Congress, Swami Vivekananda National Award - 2011 & SCOPE Special Award of the Jury in 2010.

Ajay Mathur was the Director General of the International Solar Alliance, a treaty-based organizationfrom 14 March 2021 to 14th March 2025. As of 1st March 2025, 123 countries had signed the Treaty. Prior to his election as the Director General of ISA, Dr. Mathur was the Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) 2016 - 2021, and earlier of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) 2006 - 2016. He has also been a Dean at TERI, President of the wind-energy company, Suzlon, and Team Leader for Climate Change in the World Bank. He was also the Director of the Green Climate Fund in its foundational phase.

As DG of ISA, Dr. Mathur built up it's advocacy, capacity building and project preparation activities. He has led the preparation of reports that are prepared on an annual basis, the creation of national centers for capacity building, and enabling countries to make institutional changes encompassing both regulatory and policy change and project development. He has created a Global Solar Facility with a Payment Guarantee window to attract investment in small solar in Africa (This facility will later be expanded to Asia and Latin America). A Solar X Startup challenge has also been initiated to identify solar startups in the developing world who could generate nationally relevant projects. Till date, the challenge has identified 20 startups in Africa, 30 in Asia-Pacific region, and will identify 20 startup in the Latin America & Caribbean region in 2025. These startups are then put through accelerator workshops on raising finance, enhancing technological capabilities, and in brand building so that some of them become the Amazons of tomorrow.

In addition, Dr. Mathur has led the ISA to bring solar into peoples' lives through events such as the International Solar Festival, and the private sector CEO Caucus. These activities have served to build ISA's credibility in enabling solar energy as the energy source of choice.

Earlier, as DG of TERI, he led the Institution's activities into the energy transition area and on air quality improvement initiatives, and strengthened its work in the energy and environment policy area, the industrial energy efficiency area, and the development of biotechnological innovations, especially in agricultural applications. These activities resulted in the national (and global) recognition that a transition to carbon free energy was possible in India, while meeting the growing energy needs of its people.

As DG of BEE, he brought energy efficiency into our lives. Through the star labellingprogramme, both consumers and producers of energy-consuming equipment were able to signal the energy efficiency of their equipment. The periodic increases in the energy efficiency of labels helped in bringing in a culture of innovation amongst producers, and of expectation of enhanced energy efficiency amongst consumers and policy makers. Throughthe Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) programme.BEE targeted large industrial consumers of energy, and enabled the progressive decline of specific energy consumption amongst the industrial sectors who were large users of energy. The PAT programme enabled the large industrial sector in India to grow by more than one-thirdin a little ever 10 years, while its energy consumption grow by less than one-quarter over the same period. BEE also spearheaded the creation of a public sector company, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), as a market maker for energy efficiency services. The innovative business model adopted by EESL enabled the India market to switch over to energy efficient LED bulbs in less than 4 years. He was also an Indian climate change negotiator during 2006 - 2011, and lead negotiator for technology which led to the creation of the Technology Mechanism and the Clean Technology Centre and Network in 2011. He was the spokesperson for India at the Paris Climate Change Negotiations in 2015.

Apart from bringing public policy to positively influence the renewable energy and energy efficiency markets, Dr. Mathur has also been a great institution builder, and a pioneering thought leader who has helped bring the clean energy market to life.

Through his actions in helping build up the credibility of institutions such as the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency, as well as the Green Climate Fund and the International Solar Alliance, he has enabled public policy changes (favoring clean energy) to be adopted by countless consumers and the corporate sector through market- based mechanisms. These have helped in their adoption and long-term sustainability. A key concept in the development of market-based mechanisms has been that they enable convergence of public and private interests on the demand side, and so can be upscaled easily and quickly.

Dr. Mathur was a member of The India Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change, and also was co-chair of the Global Energy Transition Commission and the Cooling Initiative of the One Earth Summit. He was appointed a Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Merite by the President of France in recognition of his outstanding commitment to preserve the environment and coping with energy-related challenges. He was also a member of the Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Dr. Mathur received a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineeringfrom the (then) University of Roorkee in 1979, and subsequently the Masters and PhD. Degrees from the University of Illinois. He has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from both his alma maters. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, of the National Academy of Engineering, and of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

Mr. Aloke Mookherjee, a graduate electrical engineer, fellow, Inst of Engineers, etc, has served as Managing Director, Flakt India Ltd, the then largest group in the world on Air Pollution Control & Air Handling. He has been Chairman/MD/Director of SAE (India) Ltd, ABB ABL Ltd, ABB ABL Projects Ltd, ABB Ltd, WEBEL and also as independent director of other listed and unlisted companies. During his past engagements as also later, he received specialised, advanced training in various areas, associated with projects, including renewable energy in many countries, notably Sweden, Norway, Denmark, UK, USA and others.

He is also Past Chairman CII (eastern region), Past President Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, past (only private sector) member of CPCB and has held many others positions of great eminence. Twice awarded by the King of Sweden for promoting Indo-Sweden collaborations, he was also the Swedish Consul for Eastern India. He continues to mentor committees on skill, innovation, start-ups (chairman of Jury also for innovation, startup pitching award etc), quality and such others.

He also continues to be engaged with the world of industry (as independent director of boards) as also education, teaching (as adjunct professor/visiting faculty/ member of governing body) in MBA,engg colleges (including CU M.Sc classes), JU& other Univs, IIM, ASCI, IIT etc.

A technologist at heart, He is held as an Energy & environment specialist in technology/innovation/climate change etc as also in management such as Leadership, Ethics, quality/change mgmt., disruption leadership etc.He had been advisor to UNIDO, UNEP, ZERI (zero emission research initiative) of the University of United Nations (UNU). He is currently in the board/governing bodies of eminent higher educational institutions for MBA and engg. At the very beginning of his career in the early days, he was Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering in North Bengal University. He has received awards, which include AIMA Calcutta chapter (CMA) award of lifetime achievement for excellence in management, Bengal chamber award of lifetime excellence in work relating to energy & environment.

Mr. Gautam Ray, Fellow of The Institution of Engineers, graduated in Electrical Engineering from Calcutta University (erstwhile Bengal Engineering College, Shibpur, presently IIEST) in 1981 and completed Post Graduation in Electrical Power System, from the same Institute in 1983. He was, till recently, Executive Director of CESC Limited, age-old power utility serving the city of Kolkata for more than 100 years and also President (HR), Power Group of RPSG. Presently, he is President-Corporate, RPSG Group Mr. Ray has an experience of close to 40 years of working in Power System operations and load dispatch, before he migrated to HR & Admin. He was instrumental in working on a collaborative project with Singapore Power for improvement in Distribution Sector. He also established AIPM (Asia Institute of Power Management) under CESC, which imparted training and consultancy services for many power utilities of India and neighbouring countries. He was the President of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is the Chairman of National Safety Council - West Bengal Chapter, Former President - Calcutta Management Association for 2015-16 and 2016-17.

Dr. Mitra is a Development Specialist & Author with over two decades of experience in development consultancy, academic teaching in India and the U.S.and development practice in India. She is Member, Governing Body, 'Centre for Responsible Business'(CRB). She is with the Sustainability Forum, Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCC&i) as Special Invitee and Adviser.

Meera has a Ph.D. Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University. She taught at JMC (Delhi University), Franklin & Marshall College, & Millersville University, Pennsylvania USA.

Her books: 'It's Only Business - India's Corporate Social Responsiveness in a Globalised World: Oxford University Press 2006/2009 brought early insights to contexts of business engagement in social development and multistakeholder partnerships.

Meera's book 'Breaking Through POVERTY' Rupa 2014): are of case studies of the poor, navigating barriers to the ease of doing business, entrepreneurship, navigating access to quality education, to health and managing livelihoods.

Meera's consultancy work has been with national and global organisations including with JPS/Adam Smith International, Partners in Change, IFRP, Research Triangle Park USA (previously part of University North Carolina, Chapel Hill). She has served as member IFAD/FAO Micro-enterprises country evaluation committee; and served on BIS Panels for 'Social Accountability at Workplace Standard' and 'Good Governance Principles'.

In development practise, she designed/resourced/ managed multi-state and multi-sector projects/programs for organizations in India, supported by national, bilateral/multilateral entities and foundations. Meera's interest is in expanding the boundaries of Sustainability, through convening knowledge-sharing dialogues at institutions, developing sustainability data-hubs, and bringing multi-stakeholder-friendly communication & material on sustainability.

Mr. Subir Chakraborty has spent more than four decades working in various capacities in several organizations such as Berger Paints, Balmer Lawrie & Co Ltd and Exide Industries Ltd, out of which he spent more than two and half decades in the last-named company, rising from the level of General Manager to the apex level, through several tiers in the company. He joined the Exide board in 2013 serving in various capacities, prior to becoming the Managing Director & CEO in 2021.

Subir qualified as a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Madras, earning his B.Tech in 1980 with Distinction. Thereafter, he worked for two years as an engineer, and then enrolled at IIM Calcutta to pursue a Post Graduate Program in Management, completing his PGDM in 1984.

Subir is deeply involved in business bodies and associations and is a Former President of Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI). He has also been a National Council Member of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the years 2022-24.

Subir has received several accolades and awards during his career, including the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) Lifetime Achievement Award in May 2023 as well as the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta in Nov 2023.

Subir remains interested in academic pursuits and has been a guest faculty at several reputed management institutions of repute, such as IIM Calcutta. He is committed to the cause of sustainability and spearheaded multiple initiatives at Exide to further this objective. He has also delivered several addresses on this topic at important forums and is a sought-after speaker on the subject. His speeches are all available in the public media.

Subir has operated for more than ten years at the board level of Exide and several other subsidiaries both in India as well as abroad. After traversing an eventful career path of around forty-two years, he retired from Exide effective May 1, 2024. Following his retirement from Exide he is engaged as an Independent Director with a reputed public limited company besides involving himself in business mentoring and other such related activities.

Former & Founder CEO, POSOCO, Now Grid-India, Soonee has first-hand four decades of experience of Power System Operation of various Regional Grids of India and has worked passionately towards Integration of Grids leading to the formation of the National Grid and now SAARC Grid. He specializes in Power System Operation, Planning, Commercial, Settlement, Restoration and entire gamut of Power Pooling and Governance.

Other areas of interest include Electricity Markets, Open Access, Regulatory affairs besides expertise in Load Despatch Technology, integration of Renewable Energy, REC Mechanism, Transmission Pricing, Ancillary Services and SCED etc.

He has represented India on the CIGRE Committees, C2 on Power System Operation, C5 on Electricity Markets and Regulation. S K Soonee is a Life Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India), Fellow IEEE, Distinguished Alumnus IIT Kharagpur, Distinguished Member CIGRE, Fellow INAE, International Member NAE, USA.

Sri Sutirtha Bhattacharya is a 1985 Batch IAS Officer of Telangana Cadre, erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh.

He had been Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Board, Andhra Pradesh Transmission Company, Andhra Pradesh Generation Company and Andhra Pradesh Gas Development Company. He had been Power Secretary as well as Infrastructure Secretary of Public-Private Partnership Project of the State.

He had been the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Singareni Collieries Limited and also Chairman of Coal India Limited, two independent coal companies of India and Coal India Limited being the largest coal company of world. He had been Chair-Person of West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission also.

Dr. Soni Agrawal is an accomplished ESG and HRM expert with a Ph.D. in Management from IIT Kharagpur and around 20 years of cross-functional experience in industry and academia. She has held senior academic positions at premier institutions including IIM Nagpur, IMI Delhi, and IMI Kolkata. BOARD & ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP Founder Director, EcoDarpan Pvt. Ltd. A sustainability-focused consulting firm. Board Member, International Society for Data Science & Innovation (ISDSI)-Global. Board Member, Finaquant Pvt. Ltd.
CONSULTING & REGULATORY ENGAGEMENTS
Trusted by government, multilateral, and industry stakeholders for high-stakes ESG and people advisory: Balmer Lawrie, CSR impact assessment and Need assessment policy for compliance evaluation.
Ambirisk, HR Risk assurance and ESG benchmarking.
Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). ESG framework design and benchmarking.
West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB). ESG audits & solid waste policy advisory.
West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) - ESG Vendor Mapping.
Maha Metro: Employee Wellness & Retention.
Bajaj Steel: HR Restructuring.
Micro and Small Enterprises, Credit Guarantee Trust for (CGTMSE). Performance & impact evaluation.
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (icddr, b)(Bangladesh). Organizational experience audit and HR transformation.

Expert Member for ESG:
Sustainability Forum, Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCC&I,) Ambirisk Research & Management, Commonwealth of Learning, Canada.

PUBLICATIONS & KNOWLEDGE CONTRIBUTION
About 100 publications in international & national journals, book chapters, proceedings, paper presentations.
Author of Green HRM: Climate Conscious Route to Triple Bottom Line (SAGE).
Co-author of book on sustainability and HRM (Excel India).
Innovator of academic courses focused on future-oriented banking/HR capabilities:
ESG and the Triple Bottom Line.
HR for New Age Organizations.
Sustainability & Green HRM.
Mindfulness for Leadership Excellence