“From a situation of perpetual shortage of energy, we have come to a situation of assured supply and even energy surplus thanks to decisive leadership and timely decisions,” said Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines.
Sharing his thoughts on ‘Energize and Transform – the leadership mantra for a mature institution’ at the IIMBue 2016, the leadership summit organised by IIM Bangalore’s Alumni Association, Goyal said management principles taught in schools such as IIMB, where he had done a short programme, helped him bring in positive results in the ministry.
He added: “Root cause analysis of any complaint, forging strong partnerships with stakeholders and prioritising are management principles that have helped me and, in the process, policy amendments have also been made.”
On the road to energy surplus, the tech-savvy minister listed and demonstrated various apps developed by the power ministry for the benefit of the citizens. “Put everything in the public domain; why should there be an RTI?” he said to loud applause.
The minister described IIMBue as an opportunity to inspire innovation, instigate disruption and provide invigoration.
Dwelling on innovative financing such as reverse bidding for projects as a smart way of saving public money, he said: “By adopting such principles, I have been able to reignite the power and coal sector.”
Goyal’s speech was followed by a Q&A, where audience posted questions on an app, which the minister gamely took, egged on by the moderator, well-known journalist Shekhar Gupta.
The morning of IIMBue 2016 started with a fun quiz for the alumni, the deans, the distinguished guests and the faculty.
There was also a short video on how the IIMBue team put the mega event together. Professor R. Srinivasan, Director Incharge, IIM Bangalore, in his welcome speech, spoke about the recent accomplishments and rankings of IIMB.
President of IIMB Alumni Association Saif Qureshi, in his welcome address, described the event as an opportunity to “Have a blast from the past in the present”.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, IIMB Board of Governors, and Chief Patron of IIMBue, gave an overview of the theme of IIMBue 2016, which is ‘Start, Scale & Disrupt’, a theme which she described as “apt” because Bengaluru is the undisputed start-up capital in the country. “It is a city with immense start-up frenzy and entrepreneurial spirit.