London Business School students study India’s climate finance landscape

Pune: As many as 81 students representing 27 countries and pursuing post-graduate degrees in finance at London Business School visited Mumbai and Pune for three days each to learn about India's climate finance landscape as part of a six-day elective course between two semesters.The students interacted with heads of automotive, pharmaceutical and chemical companies and one venture capital firm.Students received first-hand exposure to innovations at grassroot levels like rooftop solar financing models — where a non-banking financial company had enabled small households to install solar panels through accessible loans. They also interacted with the founder of a startup that has developed an innovative app aimed to reduce fuel consumption while people look for parking in urban areas.The business school faculty members said the visit was designed to cover three key topics — public policy and infrastructure, corporate action and innovation. A key area of interest was India's push for renewable energy through hybrid models around solar and wind generation. "India offers a unique model where a central power grid, large-scale renewable investments and decentralised solutions coexist," said professor of the institute Vidur Varma, who was accompanying the students.A post-graduate student from Brazil out on a field trip in Pune was eager to learn about hydroelectric power generation in India, as 60% of electricity comes from such natural sources in his home country. Varma said, "He wants to understand what India does to generate power from natural sources in an attempt to replicate it back home."Narayan Naik, another professor of the institute, said, "After the visit, participating students spent their last session conducting debates about the various innovations and practices they had observed over the six days."Students also interacted with business heads of Bajaj Finserv to discuss public digital infrastructure and how companies are leveraging it to expand financial inclusion. Chief HR officer of the company Anupam Sirbhaiya said, "The students showed keen interest in our approach to technology and AI adoption, as well as climate finance — areas integral to our businesses."