Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I bring over 16 years of experience in infrastructure finance and development, with a primary focus on transport, energy, and urban sectors across South Asia. For 13 years at the World Bank Group, I worked at the intersection of strategy, policy advisory, financing, and project delivery — supporting governments move from concept to large-scale infrastructure implementation.
My work has consistently applied a multi-sector systems approach, integrating transport planning, urban development, energy systems, climate resilience, and financing strategies to help governments design more sustainable and viable infrastructure programs. My project portfolio spans railways, highways, urban public transport systems, rural roads, e-mobility programs, climate finance initiatives, and battery energy storage systems.
A significant part of my work involves direct engagement with central and state governments, advising on sector policy reforms, institutional strengthening, investment prioritization, PPP structuring, and climate-aligned financing mechanisms. Beyond financing, I support clients on project preparation, long-term transport and energy planning, and cross-sector reforms — particularly where transport, energy, urbanization, and climate action converge.

Q2. How do you see transport and energy priorities evolving across South Asia as governments respond to urbanization, climate pressure, and technology shifts?

Transport and energy priorities across South Asia are being reshaped by the combined pressures of rapid urbanization, worsening congestion, air pollution, climate risks, and rapidly falling clean-technology costs.
Urban congestion has reached critical levels in major cities such as Delhi, Dhaka, Colombo, and Kathmandu, driving a shift away from traditional road-expansion approaches toward mass rapid transit, multimodal integration, first- and last-mile connectivity, and demand-management solutions, such as digital traffic systems and transit-oriented development. Governments are increasingly embedding low-carbon strategies and climate resilience directly into transport planning, rather than treating them as standalone objectives from the start.
On the energy side, most countries in the region have committed to net-zero or long-term decarbonization targets, accelerating investment in renewables, grid modernization, and battery energy storage. India, for example, now leads the region in renewable capacity growth, crossing 200 GW of installed renewable capacity and targeting 500 GW of non-fossil power by 2030 (Ministry of Power). The electrification of transport is progressing quickly: EV sales reached nearly ~1.9 million units in 2024 (JMK Research), with strong adoption in two- and three-wheelers, electric buses, and commercial fleets. Public charging infrastructure is expanding in parallel to support this transition.
At the regional level, other countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan are strengthening regional power trade and cross-border transmission, improving energy security, and enabling greater integration of hydropower and solar resources.
Overall, the region is moving decisively away from fragmented sectoral planning toward systems thinking, integrating transport, land use, energy supply, urban development, digital platforms, and climate resilience into development strategies.

Q3. In your experience, how are digital tools like GIS planning, digital twins, and AI shaping the future of transport and energy infrastructure?

Digital tools are fundamentally transforming how infrastructure is planned, financed, operated, and maintained across South Asia.
•    GIS-based planning is now widely used to map climate-risk hotspots, assess land-use interactions, prioritize transport corridors, and optimize asset placement. Multiple Indian states operate GIS decision-support tools for road safety audits and climate-resilient road planning. At the same time, cities use spatial analytics to optimize bus depots, charging infrastructure placement, and transit corridor alignments.
•    Digital twins are enabling agencies to simulate traffic flows, asset deterioration, flood exposure, and operational patterns before construction begins. In urban transport, they are increasingly applied to redesign bus networks, model metro ridership scenarios, and integrate feeder services — improving service efficiency while reducing lifecycle costs.
•    AI and machine learning are accelerating predictive maintenance of highways, bridges, and power transmission assets, optimizing renewable energy dispatch, and enabling real-time grid balancing as solar and wind penetration grows. EV charging operators use AI-based demand forecasting to manage loads and reduce grid congestion during peak periods.
Collectively, these technologies are shifting infrastructure systems from reactive maintenance and static planning toward proactive, adaptive, and performance-based management — extending asset life, reducing operating costs, and increasing resilience to weather and demand volatility.

Q4. How are environmental and social safeguard expectations evolving, and what trends are emerging around climate-resilient infrastructure design?

Environmental and social safeguard expectations are evolving from compliance checklists into core design requirements. South Asia’s exposure to climate shock is high — studies estimate over US$500 billion of transport assets across the region are vulnerable to climate hazards such as flooding and heat stress (CDRI–BCG / Economic Times, 2024). This has pushed resilience assessments to the front end of project planning and financing.
Key shifts include:
•    Mandatory climate-risk screening at concept stage using hydrological modeling, heat-stress analysis, and hazard mapping.
•   Nature-based solutions such as floodplain restoration, slope stabilization, permeable pavements, and green corridors are being integrated into transport and urban design.
•   Expansion of safeguards to emphasize inclusive land acquisition processes, community livelihoods, biodiversity protection, labor standards, and gender inclusion.
•    Growing focus on just transition principles, ensuring that infrastructure programs benefit vulnerable populations and do not deepen inequalities.
•   Increased reliance on blended finance and private partnerships to fund higher-cost resilience measures, supported by multilateral guarantee instruments and climate-finance facilities.

Q5. Where do you see the most compelling opportunities for transformational impact in the region’s transport or energy sectors over the next decade?

Three major opportunity areas stand out:
1. E-Mobility and Integrated Urban Transport
Large-scale electrification of buses, two- and three-wheelers, and urban delivery fleets offers rapid reductions in emissions, cleaner air, and improved access to mobility. Coordinated deployment of charging infrastructure combined with digital fleet management systems can significantly strengthen financial and operational performance.
2. Battery Storage and Grid Flexibility
As renewable penetration expands, grid-scale battery storage and flexible power systems will be indispensable for peak-load management, renewable energy integration, and improving energy security.
3. Climate-Resilient Multimodal Corridors
Upgrading roads, rail, ports, and urban networks using climate-resilient design standards and digital asset management presents some of the most substantial economic and social returns — especially in fast-growing urban and peri-urban regions.
Across all three, digitalization acts as a powerful multiplier by lowering lifecycle costs, optimizing system performance, and strengthening resilience.

Q6. When you think about innovation in transport or energy, which types of organizations are pushing the envelope today, and what differentiates their approach from others?

The most innovative organizations today share three common traits:
•    Technology-first operators — EV manufacturers, charging network providers, battery storage firms, and smart mobility startups combining complex infrastructure with software, data analytics, and user-centric service models.
•    Progressive utilities and grid operators evolving into integrated energy platforms — blending renewables, storage, distributed generation, demand management, and customer services.
•    Development finance institutions and blended-finance platforms that de-risk emerging technologies and early market movers, and scale early-stage markets.
What differentiates these players is a systems mindset — viewing transport, energy, urban development, digital tools, and climate risk as interconnected components of one ecosystem, not isolated investment silos.

Q7. If you were an investor looking at companies within the space, what critical question would you pose to their senior management?

I would ask:
“How prepared is your business to remain profitable and relevant as transport and energy systems decarbonize, digitalize, and become more regulated over the next decade — not just in today’s market conditions?”
This question cuts to the heart of whether leadership is building durable business models aligned with structural change — focusing on resilience, scalability, policy alignment, and technological adaptability — rather than pursuing short-term growth that may not withstand the sector’s rapid transformation.