There might be a mess at Copenhagen right now, but that hasn’t affected the clean tech entrepreneurs in India. Investors and clean tech companies business seminar organised by TiE, most seemed unruffled by the happenings in the capital of Denmark.

“What happens in Copenhagen would certainly affect those in the clean tech business in terms of carbon credit trading, but otherwise one doesn’t need an international summit to be told that switching to an environment-friendly, lesser expensive source of energy makes sense,” says Kartik Srivatsa, investment manager at Song Advisors.

Adds Sanjoy Sanyal, country director of New Ventures India: “I don’t think any of us really expected anything at all from Copenhagen – be it positive or negative. We’re all watching the mess, but honestly, I think it’s business as usual.”

Ananth Rao, a private investor, who’s invested in clean tech companies like Green Concepts, feels that while per capita emissions might be low in India, it cannot be a true representation of how things stand. “A large part of the country is still without electricity, so there’s only that much they would contribute to emissions. However, the emissions that are there are sharply high, if you look at them individually. And I think there should be some serious regulation on that.”

As for now, investors seem happy at the flurry of activity in the clean tech area. “Five years ago, there was practically no action in this industry. Today, it’s buzzing and accounts for at least or over 10 per cent of investments,” said Sanyal.

Ramesh Dharmaji, general manager of Small Industries Development Bank of India, says he also sees action happening in smaller cities. “While the skew still tilts towards metros since that’s where the industries are, there is clean tech emerging in smaller towns and rural areas as well. This is set for rapid growth in the next five years,” he pointed out.

But a lot is still left to be desired of this industry. “There is not a lot of innovation that happens here. The market seems flooded with me-toos and that is not such a good sign. We are yet to see sustainable business propositions in this area,” says Srivatsa.

swatianand