ISUW 2021

Reji Kumar Pillai is the President of India Smart Grid Forum (www.indiasmartgrid.org) since its inception in 2011 and is also the Chairman of Global Smart Energy Federation since November 2016. He an internationally renowned expert with four decades of experience in the electricity sector in diverse functions covering the entire value chain and across continents. He is spearheading a mission to leverage technology to transform the electric grid in India and provide clean and reliable electricity to every citizen 24x7 at affordable cost. He is actively advocating for the "Right to Electricity Act" that will ensure lifeline supply of electricity to all citizens in India. He is also advocating for a "Right to Sleep Act" to provide climate controlled sleeping pods in low income communities. Reji has played pivotal role in several ground breaking initiatives related to renewable energy, electric grid modernization, electric mobility, energy storage and digitalization in India duringthe past two decades. His current areas of research and work include: Grid Integrated Vehicles, District Cooling Systems, Electric Cooking, Smart Grids as Anchor Infrastructure for Smart Cities, Grid Interactive Buildings and Campuses; Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Blockchain Applications for Utilities; Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Systems and the Future of Transportation; and Interconnection of Regional Grids in Asia - ASEAN, SAARC and GCC grids. In November 2016, Reji was unanimously elected as Chairman of Global Smart Grid Federation, now renamed as Global Smart Energy Federation (GSEF), a global umbrella organization of smart grid/energy associations and utilities from 16 countries and the European Union; and headquartered in Washington DC, USA. As an entrepreneur, Reji has built successful enterprises in India and overseas and exited them. He has studied Engineering, Finance, Management and Law; worked with NTPC and IBM and has been senior consultant with ADB, World Bank and USAID. A recognized thought leader in clean energy, smart grid technologies, smart cities and electric mobility, Reji is a popular key-note speaker at international symposiums and conferences on these domains. He has also contributed to several articles, books, research reports and white papers on variety of topics.

B.P. Singh is a graduate in Mining Engineering from IIT (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, and has over 45 years of experience in the power & energy sector. He was Member in DERC (Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission), till Sept 2018. He has issued four successive Tariff Orders for the period 2014 to 2018, being consumer friendly, and was highly acclaimed at all levels. As a part of power sector reforms, he formulated progressive Regulations on Tariff, Net Metering, Demand-Side Management, and Modified SOP to make it more consumer friendly. Efficacious remedy for redressal of consumer's grievance has been enhanced by making the regulations consumer friendly and made them easily understandable for their benefit. Prior to taking up the assignment as Member DERC, he rose to the position of Director (Projects) in NTPC, where he additionally had also held assignments, viz Chairman, BRBCL; Chairman NTPC SCCL Global Ventures Pvt. Ltd; whole time Director of NTPC Hydro Ltd.; BFSNL Ltd., etc. He has to his credit an unmatched record capacity addition by NTPC using innovative techniques in project monitoring and implementation. He has been part of numerous high level committees constituted by the Government of India for formulation of plan proposals and policies including energy policy, pricing of coal, etc. He has actively participated in formulation of policies for the Regulatory Commissions under the aegis of Forum of Indian Regulators. He had been associated with numerous professional institutions, viz "Institute Senate Member'-Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar; Member of General Body & Peer Review Committee of National Institute of Rock Mechanics under Ministry of Mines; Member of the Board of Construction Industry Development Council, Joint Council by Indian Construction Industry and Planning Commission.He is presently associated with ISGF and ICF as Advisor.
N. Murugesan holds M.Sc. (Eng.) and MBA. He has more than 39 years of experience in the area of Smart Metering, Smart Grid, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Power Systems, Transmission & Distribution system, SCADA, Substation & Distribution Automation, Switchgear Testing, & Certification (Low- & High-Voltage Equipment) as per National & International standards. He has managed one of the largest Power Engineering Research Institute in the world as Director General. He added many infrastructures to carryout research and for certification of electrical equipment from low voltage to EHV class equipment to meet international and national standards; managed various laboratories located in seven cities across India (Bangalore, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Bhopal, Noida, Kolkata, and Guwahati); organized more than 400 workshop/training/conferences in the area of power engineering; supervised varieties of consulting works covering generation, transmission, and distribution; and managed various research & development projects in the above areas. He established communication protocol conformance laboratories for the first time in Asia in 2003 and 2008 for energy meter and substation automation as per IEC 62056 and 61850, respectively; established other laboratories as per IEC 60870 series, Modbus, etc.; certified largest number of products as per above IEC and helped to produce in India; played an active role in drafting specification under RAPDRP. He was Chairman to bring Smart Meter standard -BIS 16444 and CBIP Manual for energy meter.