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Mainak Chakraborty
Co-Founder and CEO, GPS Renewables Private Limited |
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An IIM-B graduate, Mainak co-founded GPS Renewables in 2012. He was named a ‘Top Innovator under 35’ by the MIT Technology Review, and was also awarded the coveted Climate Solver position by WWF Global. Apart from also being a CNBC TV18’s Young Turks awardee in 2013, Mainak today sits on the Bioenergy Advisory Committee of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) of the Government of India; is part of the Credit Committee of the Truss Fund and is also a Grant Reviewer under BIRAC
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1 Can you provide a brief overview of GPS Renewables, including its founding, mission, and key milestones that have led to its current success?
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Founded in 2012 and based in Bengaluru, GPSR is a full-stack biofuels firm offering technology and project development solutions for climate positive biofuel projects.
Mission : To be one of the leading global change agents for biofuels, across the biofuels spectrum (RNG, 2G Ethanol, SAF, BioLPG to name a few)
GPSR started with modular biogas projects, and reinvented biogas technology for urban applications. Today, GPSR’s BioUrja is the world’s most successful industrial / corporate food waste to biogas solution with over 100 installations.
In recent years, GPSR has ventured into large scale CBG (Compressed biogas) providing turnkey solutions for marquee clients. GPSR executed Asia’s largest (500 TPD MSW based) CBG plant in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
In 2022, GPSR launched GPSR Arya, a wholly owned subsidiary developing climate positive projects on its own books.
Some of the key milestones in our journey are captured below
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2 The impact of climate change and waste management is a critical concern. How do you see GPS Renewables making a difference in addressing these challenges on a broader scale?
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The core business of GPSR is to produce biofuels from a variety of input feedstocks such as municipal solid waste, agro residues, livestock manure etc. This positively impacts both waste management and climate change.
Biourja addresses urban waste management , by providing a modular solution that generates biogas that replaces fossil fuels. This is evidenced by the 100+ installations that we have in South Asia. In addition to addressing waste management and climate change, Biourja also is a financially viable solution with short payback periods compared to similar products.
The large-scale CBG projects of GPSR have potential to address waste management and climate change issues at scale. For instance, a 15TPD Municipal Solid Waste plant will treat more than 500 tonnes of waste per day. Such waste normally would have ended up in landfills generating potent GHG gases such as methane. Similarly, plants based on agro residues such as paddy straw prevent current scenarios such as stubble burning that cause air pollution. Our projects prevent this baseline scenario thus directly contributing to climate change mitigation. Additionally, the gas output displaces fossil fuels to the same extent, further augmenting climate impact.
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3 Collaboration and partnerships are often key to achieving sustainability goals. Can you tell us about some of the key collaborations that have been instrumental in GPS Renewables' success?
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GPSR has strung a variety of partnerships and collaborations that has augmented its position as a technology player with a breadth of offerings in biofuels space. These include partnerships with firms such as Lanzatech (GPSR has a strategic partnership with LanzaTech for 2G ethanol technology), Hygear (GPSR has a strategic partnership with HyGear for green H2 technology and local manufacturing of balance of plant) and Snowleopard (GPSR has an exclusive tie up with Snow Leopard till perpetuity for the Indian market).
Additionally, GPSR is deeply invested in innovation and R&D. The focus area of such R&D investments is to develop its own technology in partnership with research institutes. Our R&D partners are TNAU ( GPS partner for research on Napier grass for RNG + forestry projects), Agharkar Research Institute (GPS partner for research on agri-residue to RNG and 2G Ethanol ) and Vasantdada Sugar Institute (GPS partner for research on agri-residue to 2G Ethanol). In addition to collaborative projects, GPSR has established its own R&D facility (GPSR Avishkaar) at NCL Venture Centre , Pune. The focus areas of this lab are biological pretreatment using aerobic fungi for improving biogas yields of CBG plants , substrate mapping for biogas production optimization for various projects, and optimization of VFA production & conversion of VFAs to multiple sustainable alternative materials (SAMs).
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4 Sustainability often requires investment and resources. Could you talk about the financial sustainability of GPS Renewables and its ability to attract investors or secure funding for its projects?
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Right from inception, GPSR has focused on profitable growth showcasing financial discipline. This is evidenced by its track record of strong growth in both topline and bottomline over its journey. The firm has raised Series A and Series B funding from marquee investors ( Neev Fund, Triodos Investment Management, and Caspian ). With a strong order book, and a robust pipeline of future projects, the firm is well positioned to deliver sustained financial growth in the future as well.
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5 Could you share some notable success stories or case studies where GPS Renewables has made a significant impact on waste management or clean energy generation?
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Case study : Successful Execution of Asia’s largest SSO based CBG Project at Indore, MP.
The plant was executed and commissioned by GPSR in record time for its client Everenviro. The plant is designed to treat around 500 tonnes per day of organic waste generated in the city of Indore and to generate clean fuel ( CBG) of around 15 TPD. The CBG produced finds end applications in industries and local transportation, thus making the project one of the prime large scale examples in India of circular economy and sustainability in action.
Case study : Biourja at Trident BKC
Falling under the aegis of the Oberoi Group, Trident Hotels is a 5-star hotel chain with global reputation for excellence and are acknowledged for offering quality and value. GPSR has installed and commissioned its product , Biourja, at Trident in September 2022.
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Waste Processing Capacity – 1.250 Tons Per Day (1250 KGs Per Day of Organic Waste)
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Biogas production till September 2023 – 27697 m3 ~ 13848 kgs of LPG
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