Prashant Ruia, Group Chief Executive of Essar Group, on Friday said energy transition remains a core focus for the group, even as global momentum has seen fluctuations following political changes in the United States.
Speaking at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit, Ruia said, “Energy transition is a huge theme for us across the group. But since the last one year, since President Trump, has actually come, there has been a little bit of a pullback on the scope and scale of energy transition.”
He added that while there is a clear requirement for green technologies, the ones which are economically viable is where the world moving towards.
He underlined that the group is aligning its investments with commercially viable green solutions rather than depending purely on policy direction.
Ruia also outlined Essar’s plans to scale up internationally in digital infrastructure, identifying it as a core thematic focus for the group.
“We are picking up digital infrastructure as a theme and are proposing to build data centre infrastructure in the UK, where we want to develop a one-gigawatt data centre. Our primary focus will be to generate power and provide the buildings and infrastructure, after which the Microsofts and Googles of the world can come in and invest in the computers and chips,” he said.
The proposed 1 GW facility signals a significant overseas bet by the group, as rising data consumption and AI-led workloads drive demand for large-scale, power-intensive infrastructure globally. By focusing on the UK data center, the group is leveraging its existing position as a 20% supplier of fuel for the UK economy to pivot into “digital infrastructure”.
On succession and family-led businesses, Ruia said the third generation of the promoter family is now stepping into active roles. “The third generation is getting inducted now, some of them are part of the business and some are doing things on their own,” he said.
He added that attracting younger family members into traditional businesses requires creating meaningful opportunities. “If you want next-gen to be in the business, it should be interesting enough to get them involved.”
Highlighting the broader relevance of family-run enterprises, Ruia said, “70 per cent of businesses are managed by families across the world and this tradition is going to continue.”
Source : Moneycontrol
User