Thomas Pullenkav – Sr. Advisor – Energy, Villgro Innovations Foundation


Thomas Pullenkav serves as the Sr. Advisor – Energy at the Villgro Innovations Foundation, where he advises portfolio energy enterprises on various aspects of enterprise development. He is the Project Lead of the Villgro Energy Entrepreneur Incubation Programme, a programme that incubates last-mile energy entrepreneurs in Bihar. In addition to his work at Villgro, Thomas also consults with community service organizations, NGOs, bilaterals and multilaterals; providing advisory, analytical and design support for their activities in the sustainable energy and low carbon development sectors.

Prior to this, he was the Vice-President of SELCO, one of the world’s most renowned sustainable energy social enterprises. Thomas has worked extensively in the Indian sustainable energy industry and possesses a deep understanding of the unique challenges inclusive businesses in India face. He has been part of the group that pioneered access to energy for below poverty line families through a combination of customized technology, innovative financing, and an understanding of the market needs of different user groups. He also helped set up the Ashden India Renewable Energy Collective, a policy impact group comprising of the Indian winners of the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, which works on influencing Govt. of India’s policy on energy access for the poor.

Thomas is the alumnus of the Institute of Rural Management, and has an undergraduate degree in Physics. He has also completed a certificate course in participatory monitoring and evaluation.