Harit Urja Conclave Highlights Indu​strial Decarbonisation & Renewable Energy Transition in Chhattisgarh

Powering Chhattisgarh brought together policymakers, industry leaders, energy experts, and academia to deliberate on accelerating clean energy adoption and sustainable industrial growth in the state.

MAD IDEAZ, in association with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI: Industry Partner), DRRF, CG-SIMA, CGS Network and Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd (CSPDCL), Government of Chhattisgarh, organised the "Harit Urja Conclave - Powering Chhattisgarh" on 24 March 2026 at Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

The Conclave essentially focused on Renewable Energy & Industrial Transition in Chhattisgarh; Policy, Implementation and Open Access Challenges; Advancing Industrial Decarbonisation, and strengthening the state of Chhattisgarh's clean energy ecosystem with the key discussions centred on:

• * Green energy for industrial growth
• * Open access: barriers and policy gaps
• * Alignment of Chhattisgarh state policies with industry RE ambitions
• * Climate-resilient energy systems for steel and mining

A key highlight was the panel on "Can Chhattisgarh's Policies Keep Pace with Industry's Renewable Energy Ambitions?", addressing regulatory challenges, cross-subsidy concerns, and grid constraints impacting adoption.

The conclave featured prominent speakers including Rajesh Singh Rana (IAS), CEO, Chhattisgarh State Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA), Government of Chhattisgarh; S S Bajaj (IFS: Retired), Head - Corporate Affairs, Jindal Steel Ltd (Raipur); J N Baiga, CREDA; O P Banjare, General Manager, Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC), Government of Chhattisgarh; Bimbisar Nagarjun, Superintendent Engineer, Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd (CSPDCL); Sumit Sarkar, CEO, Chhattisgarh Biofuel Development Authority (CBDA), Department of Energy, Government of Chhattisgarh; Jitender Solanki, Disaster Management Consultant; Dr Ashokaditya Dhurandhar (Bathwal Corporation). Shivani Lal, Founder & CEO, MAD IDEAZ, said: "Harit Urja is a platform for actionable dialogue to shape Chhattisgarh's energy future, enabling industry to align growth with sustainability."

Located at the heart of India, Chhattisgarh is one of India's most industrially significant states, with a strong presence of steel, mining, cement, aluminum and other energy-intensive industries. While the state has traditionally been a power-surplus, coal-based energy hub, evolving market dynamics, cost competitiveness of renewables, ESG expectations and national decarbonisation goals are driving industries to increasingly explore renewable energy solutions. The proceedings​ of the Conclave majorly dwelt on these and ideated the way forward for further enhancing the efforts of the "Energy Efficiency & Decarbonisation Mission" in Chhattisgarh.

Remarkably, the Government of Chhattisgarh has taken several policy initiatives in recent times to promote renewable energy deployment, industrial decarbonisation and energy security. However, the pace of renewable energy adoption by the industries has been uneven, with significant challenges emerging at the level of policy interpretation, regulatory consistency, grid readiness and on g​round implementation. For industries seeking reliable, affordable and cleaner power, the transition from intent to implementation often remains complex and uncertain, said the expert speakers while addressing the "Harit Urja Conclave" at Raipur.

In the Conclave, the industry representatives highlighted a key area of concern that is 'Open Access Framework' that is central to enabling industries to procure renewable power from third-party developers or markets. Issues related to cross-subsidy surcharges, additional surcharges, banking provisions, approval timelines, grid constraints, forecasting & scheduling and frequent regulatory changes have created uncertainty for both industrial consumers and renewable energy developers. At the same time, distribution companies face legitimate concerns related to revenue stability, grid management and demand forecasting, highlighting the need for balanced and collaborative solutions. Other key concerns (beyond open access) shared by the industry representatives were the issues with the land availability, transmission infrastructure, integration of intermittent renewable power with continuous industrial loads and access to finance for hybrid and storage-based solutions. The Conclave proved to be immensely helpful in bringing these industrial challenges before the policymakers for possible solutions, removing the gap between policy intent and implementation readiness as they remain the critical bottlenecks to scaling renewable energy adoption in the industrial sector.

The "Harit Urja Conclave - Chhattisgarh Edition" created a uniquely important dialogue platform for bringing together the leading experts' and stakeholders from industry and state government for reflecting on best practices and models with the aim to support the green energy mission of Chhattisgarh. Among others, the discussions focused on strengthening regulatory certainty, improving implementation mechanisms, addressing open access barriers and identifying practical pathways to enable industries to transition towards cleaner, reliable and cost-competitive energy systems while safeguarding grid stability and state power sector sustainability. The Conclave facilitated business linkages, partnerships and knowledge exchange to accelerate the transition to cleaner energy, reinforcing Chhattisgarh's position as a key player in India's industrial energy transition.