Mahindra Susten Appoints Avinash Rao as MD & CEO

New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) Mahindra Group cleantech arm Mahindra Susten on Monday announced the appointment of Avinash Rao as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, effective September 24, 2025.

In this role, Avinash will lead Mahindra Susten's ambitious growth strategy, steering the company towards an expanded and diversified portfolio across the renewable energy value chain, the company said in a statement.

Mahindra Susten, an independent power producer (IPP) in India, is a leader in the renewable energy sector with over 1.6 GW of commissioned projects and a robust pipeline of nearly 3.6 GW across solar, wind, hybrid projects, and C&I (Commercial & Industrial) solutions, the statement said.

The company is also actively building capabilities in emerging areas such as energy storage and integrated renewable energy solutions, among others.

"Avinash's deep expertise across the entire energy value chain - from platform creation to investment and operational excellence - will enable us to create long-term value for our stakeholders while accelerating the transition to a cleaner energy future," Anish Shah, Group CEO & MD of Mahindra Group, said.

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Ontario Teachers'), a long-term investor in Mahindra Susten, also welcomed the appointment.

Avinash Rao brings nearly three decades of experience across conventional energy, power transmission, and renewable energy sectors. He has the rare distinction of building energy platforms from scratch across multinational utilities, infrastructure funds, and NSE-listed InvITs, the statement said.

He, most recently, served as CEO of Sustainable Energy Infra Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd., the Investment Manager to Sustainable Energy Infra Trust (SEIT), India's largest pure-play Renewable Energy InvIT listed on the National Stock Exchange, it added.

Prior to that, he held leadership roles at Edelweiss Alternatives-backed Sekura India Management Limited and CLP India.

Founded in 1945, Mahindra Group is one of the largest multinational federations of companies with 2,60,000 employees in over 100 countries.