Having pursued Electrical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Warangal and Management Courses at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and the International Institute of Management Development, Switzerland, he has been at the helm of the power technology company since its formation at a time when the energy landscape was at the cusp of transformation in the region. He has led up to 7,000 passionate professionals to provide advanced technologies to realize sustainable power grid infrastructure and smart cities.

Safety, quality, and integrity are the core values that Venu abides by. He says they are the Company’s licenses to operate in a crucial sector of economic interest. He is driven by the aim to shape a sustainable energy future for all through pioneering and digital technologies. Under his leadership, Hitachi Energy in the region remains a partner of choice amidst tight competition for enabling a stronger, smarter, and greener grid. Hailing from a village where electricity was a challenge, Venu believes that accessible energy is essential to the growth of society and business and hence crucial for the true progress of our generation and of those to come.

Together, with customers and partners, Venu strives to co-create innovative solutions for utilities, industries and infrastructure sectors in emerging areas like sustainable mobility, smart cities, energy storage and data centers. For this, he puts his faith in Hitachi Energy’s unparalleled energy platforms and focus on intelligent grids. This reverberates the over-arching endeavor of Hitachi Energy to increase access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. This mission is aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7. 

The Hitachi Energy team in India and South Asia, under Venu’s leadership, has been contributing significantly to the carbon-neutral ambitions of various countries – from setting technical standards to implementing ground-breaking electrification technologies. Several nation-building projects such as the landmark North-East Agra UHVDC link that can transfer 6 GW of clean hydro-energy to demand centers and solar powered microgrids across the Indonesian islands have accelerated the adoption of renewable energy. 

From making energy intensive industries greener to shaping the grid and charging infrastructure for public electric vehicles, under his stewardship Hitachi Energy in India and South Asia has been changing the way we use power across the region. Demonstrating leadership in turbulent markets by investing in the future, Venu has initiated futuristic projects with industry and academia and also advanced skill development to meet future talent requirements, tying up with leading institutions in the country. 

With over 30 years of experience at Hitachi Energy ranging from leadership positions in sales, marketing, account management, business development, customer relations and operations, he is truly a veteran. Leveraging his experience and network to collaborate with customers to plan, build, operate and maintain the electricity backbone and future power systems, he is committed to accelerating progress towards a carbon-neutral energy future.

Some of the notable achievements of Hitachi Energy in India and South Asia under Venu’s leadership are:

• Commissioning more than half of India’s high-voltage DC power transmission links that enable reliable power for millions.

• Renewable’s integration in the power supply – NE-Agra and Kamuthi (India), Bontang (Indonesia microgrid), R&D in solid-state transformers with NTU (Singapore);

• Rail and transport – In India, the organization is powering 9/10 metros in the country. It is energizing about 30 percent of the electrified rail routes, supporting the mission for 100 percent rail electrification. Their solutions power metro systems in Bangkok and in Australia, its Grid e-Motion solution is electrifying city transport. 

A firm believer in sustainable society, Venu aims to accomplish 50 percent reduction in CO2 emissions along the value chain by 2030. The Company has already achieved its first target in this journey with the implementation of 100 percent fossil free electricity across its operations. Further, Hitachi Energy in India and South Asia will be working closely with suppliers to decarbonize upstream processes and adopt a more systemic approach to business development that benefits the environment and society. The organization ensures quality in supplier selection and train and develop them to align with the HSE/SA requirements. 

Besides its centuries-old legacy in the power and industrial sector, Venu has ensured the organization has the largest installed fleet of components and systems in the space of power systems for electric utilities and large industries. Hitachi Energy’s extensive footprint uniquely positions it to understand customer pain points and address them through collaborative, innovative, and futuristic solutions. 

By coupling this heritage with big data and AI capabilities of the Lumada platform, Hitachi Energy is in the unique position to leverage data and know-how to provide customers with advanced insights over their fleet and networks, helping them manage better their operations and improve their business. Venu takes pride in Hitachi Energy’s human capital in India and South Asia comprising sales and field service engineers and scientists in Research & Development, many of them working in software development. “Sustainability is at the heart of future growth efforts”, believes Venu. Thanks to his vision, Hitachi Energy in India is one of the first companies in its domain to announce Carbon Neutral targets.