WalkWater Talent Advisors, one of India's leading executive search firms, recently revealed a study that highlights leadership talent crisis within India's rapidly growing renewable energy sector.

The imbalanced ratio between the demand and supply of skilled workers poses a significant challenge to India's goal of reducing non-fossil energy production capacity to 500 GW by 2030, as a part of the Panchamrit plan and achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.

The findings of the study, which surveyed 65 organisations and 204 CXOs over the past three years unveiled leadership talent shortage. Key findings include :

·   The Renewable Energy Industry has onboarded high number of CXOs since 2021. 56 per cent of leadership hires have been COOs, followed by CFOs at 47 per cent and CBDOs at 45 per cent.

·     Preference for talent with prior renewable energy experience is limiting the inflow of new ideas and perspectives 

·    Observations suggest that CEOs (7 per cent), COOs (12 per cent) and CBDOs (14 per cent) have seen very less movement from allied industries, highlighting the under-utilized potential for talent acquisition from related industries 

·     CFO roles exhibited a higher rate of cross-sector movement at 42 per cent.

The team has created a talent grid map which includes recommendations for considering allied industries into the renewable sector based on WalkWater's experience and deliberations with industry leaders.

Kunal Girap, Co-Founder and Director, WalkWater Talent Advisors, said, "India's renewable energy sector is experiencing an unprecedented boom, with organisations experiencing a surge in orders that are fueling rapid expansion. However, the talent pool, particularly in leadership, has not kept pace with this growth." Girap added, "This mismatch threatens the sector's capacity to capitalise on the market's potential. Our study highlights the critical leadership shortage and its implications for the sector's future. To sustain growth and achieve Panchamrit goals, it is essential for the industry to adopt a more inclusive approach to talent acquisition, considering candidates from cross - sector and investing in targeted leadership development programs".