Venkata Ramana Putti

Venkata Ramana Putti, Ph.D.

Senior Energy Specialist
Sustainable Energy Department

Mr. Putti has over 24 years of multinational work experience in program management, applied research, training and consulting in clean and renewable energy, natural resource management and climate change. Before joining the World Bank, he held among others positions with UNDP/GEF, UNDP, Winrock International and the Tata Energy Research Institute, managing national level energy and environment program portfolios. Mr. Putti has authored and edited nearly 80 publications including refereed journal articles, books and technical reports, and presented technical papers at over 30 international and regional conferences and workshops. In his current position, he manages the Energy Access portfolio of the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) of the World Bank. Prior to this, he worked in low carbon development and also managed a $20m global capacity building program (World Bank trust fund) on climate change mitigation in nearly 50 countries.

Mr. Putti obtained a Ph.D. in Clean Energy from the University of Twente; he also holds a MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, and a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Regional Engineering College in Warangal.

Contact Information: pramana@worldbank.org [1]

Projects and Programs

Carbon Finance Assist. $21m multi-donor global trust fund created by the World Bank to provide capacity enhancement in developing countries to enable their effective participation in carbon market (2005-ongoing).

World Bank–GEF Project on Rural Electrification in Cambodia. Coordinated the development of a national renewable energy policy, strategy and action program as part of the rural electrification initiative. Among other things, helped develop a $15 million TA proposal for GEF funding. (2000-03)

South Asia Regional Initiative (SARI) Grants Program. A USAID-supported $1m initiative to promote research and capacity building among local institutions of South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka) (2003-05)

Increased Use of Renewable Energy Resources. A $20m Cooperative Agreement with USAID to promote commercialization of renewable energy services in developing countries (Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Brazil). (1999-2004)

Commercializing Renewable Energy in India (CREI) – $1.4m project on development of rural entrepreneurs in southern India to provide energy services for economically productive applications. Supported by UN Foundation and UNDESA. (2001-05)

Georgia Energy Security Initiative. $1.1m project supported by USAID to develop community-based clean energy alternatives for productive applications and income generation. (2003-05)

Country Cooperation Framework I – $12m Energy and Environment program of UNDP in India that supported a number of projects across rural energy, renewable energy, environmental education, biodiversity conservation, wildlife protection and water management. (1999-02)

GEP-ABC Technical Assistance: $1.5m project supported by USAID. Training, awareness generation, sector monitoring, information dissemination and promotion of advanced cogeneration technologies in sugar industry as part of greenhouse gases emission prevention effort. (1997-02)

RECOMM: $3.15m project supported by USAID to promote commercialization of renewable energy technologies in India. Provided technical and financial support to over 30 enterprises and NGOs to set up RE businesses. Developed innovative institutional models and financial packages to facilitate marketing of RE products and technologies. (1997-2001)

UNDP-GEF India Portfolio. Under this $60m program, helped develop and/or manage several projects, in close coordination with the Government of India and a range of other partners (2001-02).

Hilly Hydel Development in Indian Himalayan Region – Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES)
High Rate Biomethanation Project (MNES)
Energy Efficiency in Steel Re-rolling Sector (Ministry of Steel)
Sustainable Transformation of Rural Areas – Biomass Energy Project in Karnataka (Government of Karnataka and MNES)
Coal-bed Methane Production in Mining Areas (Ministry of Coal)
Biodiversity Conservation and Alternative Livelihoods in the Gulf of Mannar (Government of Tamil Nadu)
Coral Reef Protection in Andaman Islands (Ministry of Environment and Forests)
Biodiversity Strategy and Action Program (Ministry of Environment and Forests)
GEF Small Grants Program (Grassroots NGOs)

Books and Booklets

Shukla P R, S K Sharma and P Venkata Ramana (eds) (2002). Climate Change and India: Issues, Concerns and Opportunities. Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi. 314 pp.

Ghosh D, P R Shukla, A Garg and P Venkata Ramana (2001). Renewable Energy Strategies for Indian Power Sector. CSH Occasional Paper No.3. Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi. 113 p.

Venkata R Putti (1998). As If Institutions Matter: An Assessment of Renewable Energy Technologies in Rural India. PhD Dissertation. University of Twente, The Netherlands.

Ramana P Venkata (ed) (1997). Rural and renewable energy: Perspectives from developing countries. Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi. 317 p.

Ramana P Venkata and K Kozloff (ed) (1995). Renewable Energy Development in India — Analysis of the US Policy Experience. Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi and World Resources Institute, Washington DC. USA. 153 p.

Articles

Kishore VVN and P Venkata Ramana (2002). Improved cook stoves in India: How improved are they? A critique of the perceived benefits from the National Program on Improved Chulhas (NPIC), Energy. 27(1): 47-63.

Ghosh D, P R Shukla, A Garg and P Venkata Ramana (2002). Renewable energy technologies for the Indian power sector: mitigation potential and operational strategies. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 6:481-512.

Ramana P Venkata, C S Sinha and P R Shukla (2001). Renewable energy technologies and climate change policies in India. International Journal for Global Energy Issues 15(1-2): 97-116.

Ramana P Venkata and P R Shukla (1998). Climate change policies and long term rural energy transitions in India. (in) P R Shukla (ed). Climate change mitigation: Shaping the Indian strategy. Allied Publishers, New Delhi.

Ramana P Venkata, C S Sinha and P R Shukla (1996). Environmental issues in rural energy and policy responses for the future. (in) Shukla P R (ed). Energy Strategies and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation. Allied Publishers, New Delhi. pp 41-52.

Sinha C S and P Venkata Ramana (1995). Policy environment for commercialization of renewable energy technologies in India. (in) Ramana P V and K Kozloff (ed). Renewable Energy Development in India — Analysis of the US Policy Experience. Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi and World Resources Institute, Washington DC. pp. 56-69.

Technical Research Reports

Best Practices and Emerging Lessons from Evaluation of World Bank Lending in Renewable Energy to IREDA. Submitted to the ASTAE, World Bank. (2003)

Evaluation of UNDP-GEF Technical Assistance project on “Development of High Rate Biomethanation Process as Means of Reducing Greenhouse Gases Emission”. Submitted to UNDP, New Delhi. (2000)

Social Impacts of Power Sector Reforms in India. Submitted to Hagler Bailly, USA. (2000)

Rural Energy Programme in India - Country Support Document. Submitted to the United Nations Development Programme, New Delhi. (1997)

Economics of Wind Power: Impact of Fiscal Incentives. Submitted to the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources, New Delhi. (1996)