Chandrakanta Kesavan Centre for Energy Policy and Climate Solutions
Established through the generous support of Mr. Sudhakar Kesavan (BT/CHE/1976), who currently serves as Chairman of the Board of ABM Industries and former Executive Chairman and CEO of Inner-City Fund (ICF), who led the firm to become the world’s first carbon-neutral professional services company—the Center is grounded in both vision and action. Anchored in the Department of Sustainable Energy Engineering, it aims to make IIT Kanpur carbon neutral by 2027 while emerging as a national and global leader in energy and climate policy. With a strong focus on research, outreach, and collaboration with governments and civil society, the Center develops scalable, science-driven solutions to address climate challenges. It serves as a dynamic platform uniting technologists, academics, and policymakers to shape a cleaner, more equitable future for India and the world. The Center is steadily progressing toward becoming a leading voice in India’s clean energy and climate policy landscape. Continued institutional support, strategic partnerships, and a focus on actionable research will be key to its impact.
Chandrakanta Kesavan Lecture Series
Dr. Rohan Shetty, a Postdoctoral Fellow Lat Faculty of Science UJEP spoke on ‘Vegetation response to Climate Change in the subarctic, alpine and tropical environments: Current projects and future ideas for research development of sustainable landscapes”. Dr Rohan Shetti is a postdoctoral scientist working in the field of landscape ecology and ecosystem dynamics.
Mr. Sanjay Khare, Executive Advisor-Sustainability, Skoda Volkswagen India spoke on ‘Sustainability-Beyond Greening to Conscious Capitalism, a 30 Trillion $ opportunity’. Mr. Sanjay mentors sustainable mobility startups at NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore.
Event Highlights
India-UK Symposium on "India-UK Symposium on Decarbonization and Sustainability: Engaging Academia and Industries for Net- Zero [Sustain-NZ]" in February 2024.
Fostering young minds - To make aware of sustainability & renewable energy sources and their experiments, a visit of school kids(40 students of kv iit Kanpur) event held in October, 2023.
Lecture Series
Dr. Rodion Stepanov
Affiliation: Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics, Perm, Russia
Title: ‘WRF Simulations of Mid-Latitude Atmospheric Waves’
Date: April 4, 2024
Mr. Pawan Joshi
Affiliation: Senior Manager, Tata Motors, Pune, India
Title: ‘My experiences with the Automobile Industry’
Date: April 9, 2024
Mr. Chaitanya Gade
Affiliation: Head of Sustainability Monitoring and Evaluation, Govardhan Eco Village
Title: ‘Exploring Sustainable Solutions: The Symbiotic Recycling Model of Govardhan Eco Village’
Date: April 16, 2024
Mr. Chandrashekhar Chincholkar
Affiliation: Director - Corporate Advisory, CES India Pvt Ltd, Pune
Title: ‘Board Strategy for ESG and Corporate Sustainability - Understanding the BRSR’
Date: June 28, 2024
Mr. Manish Chourasia
Affiliation: Managing Director, Tata Cleantech Capital
Title: ‘Navigating Climate Finance: Empowering Future Leaders for Sustainable Change’
Date: August 14, 2024
Mr. Ajay Phatak
Affiliation: Trustee, The Ecological Society, Pune
Title: ‘Energy Transition, challenges and opportunities’
Date: August 29, 2024
Prof Husain Kanchwala
Affiliation: Center of Automotive Engineering and Tribology, IIT Delhi
Title: ‘Research paradigms in Automotive Engineering’
Date: August 31, 2024
Dr. Sudhanshu Shukla
Affiliation: Senior Researcher, IMEC, Belgium
Title: ‘Addressing the Material Challenges for Photoelectrochemical Solar Fuels Generation: Lessons from Photovoltaics’
Date: December 19, 2024
Dr. Asit Kumar Mishra
Affiliation: Research Engineer, Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow
Title: ‘Designing classrooms of the future - Sustainability, resilience, and health’
Date: January 3, 2025
.png)
Dr. Virender K. Sharma
Affiliation: Department of Chemical, Environmental, and Material Engineering, University of Miami
Title: ‘Ferrates in Water, Energy, Food, and Human Health’
Date: January 29, 2025
Mr. Manojit Sengupta
Affiliation: Delivery Centre Head - Eastern Region, TCS
Title: ‘Sustainability in Power Utility Sector’
Date: February 11, 2025
Outreach Activities
- The prestigious Dr. Chandrakanta Kesavan Best Research Thesis Award was instituted by the Kesavan Center at IIT Kanpur to recognize the best-graduating full-time Master's student from any department who has completed his Master's thesis in energy sustainability and climate solutions. The award is open to students of all departments. This year, the award was given to three outstanding researchers: Siddharth, Gudelli Shivakumar, and C Navya Nirmala, in recognition of their thesis work in this field.
- Held on 05–06 November 2024 at the Outreach Auditorium, IIT Kanpur, the Schmidt Sciences Conference on “Energy Technologies for India’s Decarbonization” brought together leading national and international experts. This high-impact, two-day event focused on innovative technologies and strategic policy frameworks to accelerate India’s transition toward a sustainable, low-carbon future.
- On 31 August 2024, the fourth edition of NetZero Dialogue was held at ATREE, Bangalore, focusing on “Socio-ecological Considerations for Renewable Energy Projects.” This one-day workshop fostered meaningful dialogue among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, addressing the critical balance between renewable energy expansion and socio-ecological sustainability.
- The Sustainable GeoCommunities Workshop, held on 24–25 June 2024 at IIT Kanpur’s Outreach Center in Noida, focused on community-driven sustainability and decentralized energy systems, highlighting geospatial tools and stakeholder engagement in rural and peri-urban settings.
Community Outreach
CKC conducted many Life and Carbon Climate Change Awareness events on Saturdays and Sundays in October 2024. These events were attended by over 200 enthusiastic students from Sunshine Public School, Prayas, and Opportunity School.The events sparked thought-provoking discussions on climate change, its causes, and the impact of overconsumption, racism, and unchecked ambition.
As part of a Cleanliness Drive initiated by the Chandrakanta Kesavan Centre (CKC), over 150 motivated IIT Kanpur students collected up to 300 kg of plastic waste from areas such as Ganga Barrage and parks like Kargil Park. These drives were conducted almost every Sunday from August to November.
Research Infrastructure
.png)
Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) – Thermo Fisher Scientific Apreo 2C
.png)
X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) – Rigaku SmartLab SE
.png)
BET Surface Area Analyzer – Autosorb
.png)
Stylus Profiler System – Bruker Dektak