- By JVG Krishna Murthy
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- August 29, 2026
Webinar Recording – 19th Sept 2026
POWERING PROSPERITY
Powering livelihoods. Sustaining communities
Saturday ~ Sept 19, 2026
10 am EST, 7:00 am PST, 7:30 pm IST
Webinar Panelists
Mr. Sanjay Patki ~ Sr. VP – IEEE Smart Village (ISV)
Ms. Pamli Deka ~ Program Head, Energy Transition Finance, WRI India
Mr. Nitin Akhade ~ President, CLEAN
Webinar Moderator
Mr. Raghuraman C ~ Co-Chair, WHEELS Energy Council
Webinar Summary
What happens when rural electrification ends? Access to electricity is an important first step. But for millions of underserved communities, the real opportunity begins when reliable energy can power livelihoods, strengthen institutions, build local ownership and create lasting economic opportunity. So the questions are:
1. What makes decentralised renewable energy (DRE) sustainable beyond the initial grant
2. How can finance reach underserved communities?
3. What will enable promising DRE enterprises and livelihood applications to scale?
And ultimately:
How can India move from isolated DRE projects to a sustainable, at-scale ecosystem benefiting millions of underserved?
These are the questions at the heart of “Powering Prosperity: Powering livelihoods. Sustaining communities.”, the upcoming WHEELS Global Foundation Energy Council webinar.
Saturday ~ Sept 19, 2026
10 am EST, 7:00 am PST, 7:30 pm IST
(Registration is Free)
You can join the webinar 15 min early (i.e. 09:45 AM EST OR 7:15 PM IST) to watch the slide show on WGF-related projects & videos.
WHEELS Global Foundation is an initiative of global IIT Alumni community and joined by hundreds of mission-aligned professionals such as doctors & lawyers, with the mission of Technology-Enabled Philanthropy at-scale. WHEELS has also been selected by NITI Aayog, Govt. of India as a member of the Committee for Innovation and Technology Transfer. WHEELS has also signed an MOU with the Ministry for Panchayati Raj for a technology partnership in Rural Development.WHEELS Global Foundation received a Poshan Award from Sadguru Sai Madhusudhan of the Sri Sathya Sai Annapurna Trust for impacting 10 million children. This award recognized WGF's work in nutritional health, maternal and newborn care, and telehealth innovation."
Panelists Overview
Sanjay Patki is an Electrical Power systems engineer with over 36 years of experience in Generation, Transmission and Distribution in functions like Engineering, Procurement, Testing and Commissioning of Power Stations, Power system Protection and Automation, Transmission and Distribution operation and Maintenance, Quality Assurance, and Inspections.
His areas of interest include power system operation, protection and automation, Smart Grids and Power quality. He is the Ex- chairman of the National Committee of CIGRE India on Power System Protection and Automation. He is also a s distinguished Member of International Council on Large electrical systems (CIGRE).
Sanjay is the recipient of award from Central Board for Irrigation and Power (CBIP) for excellent contribution to Power system Protection and Automation.
He is retired from active service and at present volunteering (pro bono) to IEEE Smart Village Program as Senior Vice President and member of Executive Committee. (Sanjay Patki | LinkedIn)
Pamli Deka is the Program Head – Energy Transition Finance with the Energy Program at WRI India. She works on identifying pathways to finance the transition toward clean energy supply and the decarbonization of energy consumption, with a focus on equity, resource efficiency, and aligning public and private finance to support India’s energy and development goals.
Pamli brings 19 years of experience in the energy sector across operational, consulting, and financing roles. Before joining WRI India, she managed South Asia operations for the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN). She has also worked as an equity analyst covering renewable energy and oil and gas companies, and has facilitated investments in social enterprises across India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. She previously worked at WRI India, contributing to the organization’s energy access portfolio, and currently volunteers as a climate mentor with NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore.
Pamli is a Chemical Engineer from IIT Roorkee and holds an MBA from INSEAD. She has co-authored research papers and written widely on energy, finance, and development. (Pamli Deka | LinkedIn)
Nitin Akhade is the Executive Director of Energy Access and Livelihoods at CES and currently the President at CLEAN, focusing on market linkages and technology mapping for rural and unserved communities. With over twelve plus years of experience in energy access, business models, and renewable energy applications, his research includes standards for BoP segments and clean cooking solutions.
He holds dual master’s degrees in Nuclear Engineering from UPC Barcelona and Grenoble INP, an Executive Energy Management degree from Grenoble Ecole de Management, and a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from DBATU, India. He previously worked with CLEAN on decentralized renewable energy and with Lloyd’s Register Consulting on nuclear safety assessments. (Nitin Akhade | LinkedIn)
Raghuraman C (Raghu) is a first-generation social entrepreneur and an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) – Roorkee (1982) and the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta (1984). He is the Co-Chair for the Energy Council at WHEELS. He launched E-Hands Energy (www.ehandsenergy.in) in 2010 as an energy access social impact venture.
E-Hands Energy has an installed capacity of almost 3 MWp of decentralized clean energy systems using micro wind turbine & solar PV, with over 1000 installations across 800 Indian towns/villages across 21 States of India, including 32 microgrids. The venture strives to deliver reliable clean energy at an affordable cost to First Time Electricity Users (FTUs), particularly in the remote, off-road, and off-network terrains of the Himalayas, in addition to solar powering educational institutions, healthcare facilities and financial institutions in rural India.
E-Hands Energy pioneered the technology of decentralized small wind turbine – solar PV hybrid system way back in 2011 and has won several awards in India and abroad for these innovations around hybrid systems. (Raghuraman C | LinkedIn)
