Green tech gets thumbs up at IIM

AHMEDABAD: A small start-up is what Vishal Zinjuwadia opted for when most of his batch preferred to do projects with big brands, companies with huge turnovers. The environment-sensitive Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPX) student at IIM-A took the road less travelled when he chose to work with an entrepreneurial firm working with green technology.
Zinjuwadia and several others from the PGPX batch of 2010 consciously gunned for the green tech sector. For some, it was an area of interest and the rest, a prospective business venture.
"I have several years of work experience in the US handling energy management in data centres. I wanted to explore the sector here. The company that I did a project with is a start-up that makes centralised software for managing energy used in computers in offices. I made the 'go-to-market' plan for the product, including communication, pitching, selling and pricing," said Zinjuwadia.
Green technology is one of the new-found areas of interest among the batch of executives who have returned to B-school after spending several years in the industry, with work experience ranging between six to 20 years.
IT professional Dheeraj Chopra is another example. "As part of my project, I was doing an industry analysis for my client in solar space. It included a market study of products and technology available, requirements for setting up a company — present market scenario and the alternatives available," said Chopra.
Manish Jobanputra and Manish Sharma from the same batch did their project with a start-up being incubated at Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) in IIM-A.
"The company is working on an eco-friendly alternate fuel. We made the business plan for this technology from Europe for selling it in Indian market," said Jobanputra. Sharma said, "Both of us, along with another classmate are planning to turn entrepreneurs after the course."