Prashanth Varanasi is the Private Sector Engagement Specialist for the Energy Program at WRI India. He leads the work on accelerating the role of the private sector in energy transition and decarbonisation across the four pillars of the Energy Program.

He brings over 15 years of experience in business development, program design and delivery, corporate strategy and consulting, incubation, capacity building, and research across sectors including energy access, climate action, biofuels, livelihoods, built environment, circular economy, and rural development.

Prashanth has led initiatives such as Energy Leap, a clean hydrogen accelerator, a low-carbon cold reefer business scale-up, incubation and commercialisation of clean tech start-ups, and energy access projects across 500+ villages. Before joining WRI India, he worked with Villgro, Xynteo, Ashden, Tata Trusts, and TERI, with project experience spanning India, Europe, and East Africa.

He focuses on unlocking business value while creating planet- and people-positive impact. He serves as an advisory board member and mentor for clean tech start-ups and contributes to the mentorship program for PGDM students at XLRI Jamshedpur.

Prashanth holds a master’s degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from TERI University. Beyond work, he enjoys photography, is a coffee enthusiast, and experiments with culinary projects.