Profit Insight: Relationship deepens between Adani Group and Abu Dhabi’s International Holding with multiple JVs.
-#AdaniEnergySolutions inks JV with #IHC-backed #Esyasoft for smart metering; Founder and CEO Bipin Chandra shares details with Agam Vakil.
-#IHC Subsidiary Sirius International Holding forms JV with #AdaniGlobal; CCO Richard Budel talks about the partnership.
Also Read: https://bit.ly/3NFnoSg
-#AdaniEnergySolutions inks JV with #IHC-backed #Esyasoft for smart metering; Founder and CEO Bipin Chandra shares details with Agam Vakil.
-#IHC Subsidiary Sirius International Holding forms JV with #AdaniGlobal; CCO Richard Budel talks about the partnership.
Also Read: https://bit.ly/3NFnoSg
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TVTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Hello and welcome.
00:10 I'm in conversation with Bipin Chandra.
00:12 He's the founder and CEO at SSOFT Holding.
00:15 Now, SSOFT, as an Indian pioneer in smart grid solutions
00:19 provider, has expanded its presence
00:22 across the UAE, KSA, UK, Azerbaijan, and America,
00:26 along with other CIS regions.
00:29 SSOFT is a part of the Sirius International Holdings,
00:32 a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's international holding
00:36 company.
00:36 Bipin, good afternoon, and thanks so much for joining in.
00:40 Good afternoon, Arav.
00:42 Thanks for having me here.
00:44 Right, Bipin, I want to start off
00:46 by you elaborating on how the partnership with Adani Energy
00:50 Solution aligns with SSOFT's long-term strategic goals,
00:53 especially considering the growing
00:55 demand for smart metering solutions in Indian
00:59 and international markets.
01:02 Say, if you look at Adani is one of the global player
01:07 and one of the large energy player.
01:11 So in the Indian market, if you look at now,
01:15 India is going through a mass transition of all
01:19 their electricity grids into a smart grid.
01:22 And one of the major element is the smart metering,
01:25 is the fundamental thing that they're
01:27 replacing the entire meters.
01:29 So about 250 million, that is about 25 crore meters
01:32 to be replaced.
01:33 And Adani is one of the largest player in this segment.
01:36 I think this partnership partnering with Adani for us
01:40 to scale and able to deliver such a large scale
01:44 significant move for us.
01:47 Right, if you could just tell us about SSOFT's journey
01:50 growing into transnational global energy solutions
01:53 provider, a little bit of a background around Sirius,
01:57 your holding company.
01:58 If you could just give us an idea about the activities,
02:00 markets, and business models.
02:01 SSOFT has been founded in 2014 with the whole vision
02:11 to contribute to the decarbonization.
02:15 And energy sector being one of the major contributor
02:18 to the carbon emissions, we wanted to focus on that
02:20 and what kind of transformation that we can bring it
02:23 to the sector.
02:25 And that's where SSOFT was founded.
02:27 And we were one of the first India
02:30 to be partnered to deliver the India's first smart grid.
02:34 And that's where we've grown from there.
02:38 And to the near shore, we were in the UAE.
02:41 Now we're across about 10 plus countries
02:44 and delivering the sustainable energy.
02:47 And Sirius Holding is one of the only one
02:50 of the subsidiary of IHC of Abu Dhabi,
02:54 focuses purely on the technology part of it
02:58 or the digital transition part of it.
03:00 And that's where this is a force in this transition.
03:03 And Sirius Holding also very focused on sustainability
03:07 and being completely aligned towards that goal.
03:09 Our vision now is to reduce--
03:13 to touch 1 billion lives and reduce 10 billion ton of carbon
03:18 in the next 10 years.
03:20 So Sirius Holding focuses on energy smart grid.
03:24 The focus is on technology, on the blockchain, AI, analytics,
03:29 and so on.
03:30 That's where the whole goal is towards the sustainability.
03:35 Right, Bipin, could you also elaborate
03:37 on SSOFT's solutions in the energy and water space?
03:41 And what is the vision as far as the energy sector is concerned?
03:45 We provide the energy space completely
03:47 and when paid to power water and gas,
03:50 completely right from the consumer
03:52 into the last mile of where the both of the upstream
03:55 and also the downstream.
03:57 We also completely take the integration
04:00 into the carbon credits and also create the national carbon
04:03 system.
04:03 We also provide smart meters.
04:05 We recently acquired a Landis and Gair India smart metering
04:13 factory.
04:13 And we've created a joint venture
04:16 so that it's called SSOFT Landis and Gair.
04:18 So that would be this transition and journey
04:20 we can also provide the smart meters on the IoT side.
04:24 In the UAE, we also do the IoT elements
04:27 of the entire grid elements.
04:29 So that's what we take care of.
04:31 Right, I also want to touch upon the sustainability solutions
04:34 as well.
04:35 What is your vision in this specific area
04:38 and how are you looking at solutions
04:41 in this particular sector?
04:43 So sustainability now, we recently
04:46 had COP 28 in the UAE.
04:50 The whole goal now, everybody is signed up to the net zero goals.
04:54 And how do we achieve that net zero goals?
04:56 And that's where SSOFT plays a critical role
04:59 because smart grids are key strategy to achieve those net
05:02 zero goals.
05:03 And in this value chain of achieving the net zero goals,
05:07 SSOFT provides a complete end to end.
05:08 Right from as we've talked about the smart metering
05:12 platform, which reduces, comes under the energy efficiency.
05:15 Then we have under Cirrus Holding,
05:18 we also do the methane abatement because that
05:20 is one of the major contributor for the oil and gas,
05:23 methane abatement, and also the carbon capture utilization.
05:26 We also have water efficiency that we
05:28 want to bring in through the water holding.
05:31 And then the entire, whatever the decarbonization platform
05:35 that we're going to create, and that's
05:37 of course, the collection of the carbon credits.
05:40 And then you can actually trade on that.
05:42 So that's where ultimately the registry tracking,
05:45 monitoring of the entire value chain of sustainability.
05:49 Also, the new age technology on the EV,
05:52 we are very much in the EV charging ecosystem.
05:56 I mean, definitely there's one of the largest market
05:58 you've already seen in the majority of the cars
06:01 and the bikes which is going in.
06:02 But globally, the EV vehicles are coming up.
06:05 And of course, with this partnership with Adani,
06:07 they are also heavily into both on the renewable side
06:10 and also on the green hydrogen side.
06:13 So we want to have on the mobility side.
06:16 So we want to build in that green hydrogen mobility.
06:20 That is the future that's going to come in
06:22 in the long haul sector.
06:24 That's going to be a major play.
06:25 So we are playing in that role too.
06:29 Right, I want to come back to smart metering infrastructures.
06:33 SESoft has implemented some of the largest smart metering
06:35 in Infra's.
06:36 What do you see as the most significant innovations
06:39 in smart grid technology today?
06:41 And how are they contributing to the goal of decarbonization?
06:46 So very interesting question.
06:47 See, the kind of opportunity that India
06:49 has created into the smart grid, currently it's
06:52 a $50 billion, the initial smart metering rollout
06:57 in the country.
06:58 I'm only talking about power.
07:00 Now, this is one of the fundamental element
07:04 into decarbonization.
07:05 Because as you know, India is committed
07:07 to add 500 gigawatt on the renewable energy by 2030.
07:12 And considering that, and Adani is one of the major players
07:15 in the renewable energy.
07:16 They're going to be the world's largest.
07:18 And considering that, and a lot of integration
07:21 that has to happen into the grid.
07:23 So the new innovations is going to happen
07:25 is onto the grid integration of the renewable energy
07:29 into the ecosystem.
07:30 A lot of EV charging ecosystem is
07:34 going to be on the plane.
07:35 That is where the new innovation is
07:39 going to happen, how the grid integration is going to happen.
07:42 And a lot of analytics and generative AI.
07:46 And what it is going to give is all the carbon right now,
07:52 with this solution, you're able to track, monitor, verify,
07:56 validate, and able to actually showcase
07:59 what kind of carbon decarbonization emissions
08:01 that you're doing.
08:02 And able to also give it to the consumer, what kind of carbon
08:06 credits that are actually contributing
08:08 into the system.
08:10 Right.
08:11 So, Bebin, you did mention quite a bit on the next question
08:14 that I have for you.
08:15 That is, of course, why do you think
08:17 that India is a major market?
08:19 And what will your approach be?
08:22 But I also want you to elaborate a little more
08:24 about how you're going to address the Indian market
08:27 with respect to what you've already
08:28 spoken to us about earlier.
08:31 See, I think the most Indian market now
08:33 has a very large play of the rollout.
08:40 It's a very complex, national, critical infrastructure.
08:43 So we, one, as a major partnership with the Dhanis,
08:47 so that's where we're going to have a major play.
08:49 Currently, we have a 25 million consumer base.
08:52 We're now moving up to additionally add up
08:54 to 30 million.
08:55 With the Dhanis, we also plan to go up
08:57 to another additional 70 to 100 million.
09:03 But we're also working with various other partners.
09:07 I mean, that's where a lot of other partners,
09:10 like Genius Power, they've been great supporter to us.
09:13 IntelliSmart, which is a government-owned energy
09:15 efficiency company, that's been a great support to us.
09:21 The GMR in India.
09:24 So we've been working very extensively with them.
09:27 And this is what we plan to take it forward
09:31 on the next journey.
09:32 Right.
09:32 And a final question then, Bipin.
09:34 Considering the diverse portfolio of the Adani Group,
09:36 are there plans for further collaborations
09:39 with other Adani companies, particularly
09:41 in areas like renewable energy, EV charging,
09:44 and AI-driven analytics?
09:47 Absolutely.
09:47 I think they're doing a wonderful job,
09:50 especially now with the new Adani app being released.
09:54 So I think we will be integrating into the Adani One
09:59 app.
10:00 That's going to be one of the critical elements.
10:03 That's where all the data analytics that
10:07 is going to come into play.
10:10 Also, Adani is also utilities.
10:13 So we've got a major contribution solutions there.
10:16 And EV, since we're already working on the EV
10:18 and renewable integration, I think
10:20 Adani Green Energy, Adani Mobility.
10:23 So I think we're going to definitely integrate
10:26 all our solutions into the ecosystem.
10:29 Right, Bipin.
10:30 Well, we'll leave it at that.
10:31 Thank you so much for joining us and talking to us
10:34 about your company.
10:35 We wish you the best for the future.
10:36 And thanks once again.
10:37 Thank you.
10:38 Thank you so much.
10:39 Now, India has proven repeatedly in the recent past
10:42 that it is one of the fastest adopters of technology
10:45 in the world.
10:46 And not just that, this is technology
10:49 that is used at scale in a cost-effective manner.
10:53 Now, Abu Dhabi-based IHC, through its arm,
10:56 Sirius International Holding, has
10:58 entered into a joint venture with Adani Enterprises
11:00 subsidiary, Adani Global.
11:02 And their statement of purpose is
11:04 to capitalize on the massive potential of India's internet
11:09 economy.
11:10 To talk about what that will entail,
11:12 I have with me Richard Boodle, who
11:14 is a Chief Commercial Officer of Sirius International Holding.
11:18 Thank you so much, Richard, for taking the time.
11:20 I will start by asking about what
11:23 the scope of this joint venture is,
11:25 and then we'll delve a little deeper
11:27 into the various opportunities that India presents.
11:31 Very good.
11:32 Thank you for inviting me.
11:33 I'm very happy to be here.
11:35 When we talk about the scope of the opportunity,
11:37 effectively what we've decided to focus on,
11:40 at least in the beginning, is the application of technology
11:45 for the sake of social and industrial reform.
11:49 Looking at digital transformation
11:51 and understanding how we use technology to improve
11:55 the world that we live in.
11:56 This was part of the reason, of course,
11:58 that we selected Adani as a perfect partner,
12:02 because they have an enormous industrial base that
12:05 gives us the opportunity to test and prove the technologies
12:10 that we're looking to implement in a way
12:12 that we know is going to deliver value.
12:14 And they bring to the relationship, of course,
12:17 a massive wealth of deployment experience, but also data,
12:22 information, and expertise.
12:25 Could you talk to me a little bit about the kind of solutions
12:29 that Sirius International is currently working on?
12:33 And you say test, so that's why I'm understanding from that
12:38 that you have certain solutions that are currently
12:41 in place or in the works.
12:43 So could you take us through the suite that you currently have
12:46 and what you're working on?
12:48 Certainly.
12:49 So the easiest way to understand the portfolio of capabilities
12:53 that we have is to think about it in terms of four
12:55 different pillars.
12:57 So we have a pillar that is focused on deep technology.
13:01 So the four underpinnings of the current tech landscape,
13:04 that includes blockchain, that includes
13:07 artificial intelligence, that includes cybersecurity.
13:11 So really looking at things from an infrastructure perspective
13:14 and deep technology.
13:16 Associated with that, we have a second pillar
13:18 that focuses on the application of these technologies
13:22 in the domain of digital government transformation.
13:26 So we believe that one of the easiest ways for us
13:29 to impact the world and to impact societies
13:33 are to work with the governments that provide
13:35 those societies with services.
13:37 So we have an arm that is focused on digital government
13:41 transformation.
13:42 We have a third arm that is focused specifically
13:45 on the health care side of the equation
13:48 and bringing technology to the transformation of health care,
13:51 making sure that health care is available for all populations.
13:55 And then fourth and finally, particularly relevant
13:58 in context of the recent COP28, we
14:01 have a pillar that is focused on sustainability
14:05 and making sure that we live in a harmonious balance
14:08 with our environment.
14:09 And there we have solutions looking at carbon, methane,
14:14 water, and making sure that we have the right way to manage
14:18 that scarce system of commodities
14:20 and then helping to build circularity into the economy.
14:24 In any one of those areas, there are
14:26 a number of different point solutions
14:28 and there are also platforms.
14:30 If we look, for example, in the digital government
14:32 transformation domain, we have some application platforms
14:36 like revenue management.
14:39 We understand that in governments,
14:41 being able to manage revenue, being able to manage finances
14:45 is the most core capability.
14:48 Governments cannot function if they don't have money.
14:50 So understanding how money flows into, through governments,
14:54 and then back out is a really key capability for them.
14:58 And we have a revenue management platform
15:01 that helps governments to manage that, that interoperates
15:06 with their existing systems, with their existing ERP,
15:09 and then also ties into the retail
15:12 and the commercial and industrial environments
15:15 as well.
15:16 Working with-- sorry, go ahead.
15:18 No, no, please, please continue.
15:21 OK.
15:21 Where we are excited about the partnership with Adani
15:25 is that Adani, for example, has very complementary expertise
15:29 in technologies like instrumentation
15:31 of the environment and the deployment of sensors,
15:34 increasingly powerful and increasingly small sensors.
15:38 And being able to bring the combination of core technologies
15:42 like blockchain and cybersecurity
15:44 and artificial intelligence to that industrial base
15:47 that Adani has and is able to bring to the table
15:51 gives us the chance to start experimenting in some new ways.
15:55 A lot of the technologies that we talk about
15:57 have been around for a really long time.
16:00 But the reality is that the business
16:03 value behind those technologies, in some cases,
16:06 is yet to be proven.
16:08 That's really the focus of what we're trying to do here.
16:10 I'm trying to understand the sensors
16:12 that you're talking about as well.
16:13 Could you explain that a little bit?
16:16 Certainly.
16:17 When we talk about instrumentation
16:18 of the environment, we can think about the fact
16:21 that we can only manage what we can measure.
16:25 And we can only know from what we gather information.
16:29 And so instrumentation or the sensorization
16:32 of the environment is really focused
16:34 on deploying temperature, humidity, camera, audio,
16:42 all kinds of sensors that help us to understand
16:46 what is currently happening.
16:47 If we put that in the context of a factory, of course,
16:51 it becomes very easy to understand how that
16:53 relates to business value.
16:56 The more that you can understand about your production lines,
16:59 how raw materials are being moved through a production
17:02 process, how many objects you are creating,
17:05 how much waste you are producing,
17:08 how much energy you are consuming,
17:11 you then have the ability to understand
17:13 how you can optimize those processes.
17:16 Whether that's optimization in order
17:18 to reduce energy consumption or to reduce pollution
17:22 or to improve the quality of what it is that you're
17:25 producing really depends on the type of business
17:28 and what the goals and objectives are.
17:29 But the whole idea behind the sensors
17:32 is to make sure that we are capturing information,
17:35 information we can feed into the artificial intelligence
17:38 algorithms and use to then make sure
17:41 that we are building better products in a more
17:44 environmentally sustainable and economically viable fashion.
17:48 OK, so some of these applications
17:50 that you're talking about and you're
17:52 saying artificial intelligence, my assumption here again
17:56 is that these models exist and that you're
17:58 feeding additional data into them
18:01 to essentially figure out how to have additional solutions
18:05 provided for processes that exist, say, in India.
18:10 So I'm trying to understand whether you've
18:11 had experience of improving efficiency significantly
18:16 in any of the processes that you've just described.
18:18 And do you have the intention of replicating that in India?
18:23 So what is the objective specifically with India?
18:27 OK, so artificial intelligence algorithms,
18:30 as we have seen with almost any form of technology
18:32 over the last decades, is only as good as the information
18:36 that you feed it.
18:37 Creating the algorithms in and of itself
18:40 is not particularly difficult. But finding algorithms
18:44 that actually achieve objectives is a little bit more difficult
18:49 and is very dependent upon the corpus of information
18:51 or the body of data that you can feed to it.
18:55 So in the first instance, what Adani
18:57 is bringing to the table is the instrumented environment,
19:02 the expertise of its people that,
19:04 when combined with some of the technologies
19:07 that Sirius Holdings is bringing into the partnership,
19:10 gives us the chance to prove and continue
19:14 refining those algorithms.
19:17 And as we start to prove the business benefit that comes,
19:21 for example, from understanding electronic patient health
19:26 records and improving health outcomes
19:30 by drawing a link between treatment methodologies
19:33 and patient outcomes, we have the ability
19:37 to ensure that we are getting real value for money
19:41 when technology is being applied to health care, for example.
19:44 And we have the ability to do that
19:46 in a way that protects patient safety, that
19:48 ensures confidentiality, and then can
19:51 be moved into other areas of the health care chain,
19:55 not only in India, but also across the rest of the world.
20:00 What we are looking to do is to take this enormous advantage
20:04 that India has in terms of population size
20:06 and economic growth, as well as technical sophistication,
20:10 and use that to prove the things that we are working on
20:14 so that we can take them out and deploy them
20:16 in other places as well.
20:17 OK, so you've answered my question fabulously.
20:20 So therefore, the follow-up to that
20:22 is Sirius Digitech International,
20:25 which is the joint venture, 5149.
20:28 Will that be the entity that sells these solutions,
20:32 both in India and globally going forward?
20:36 That is yet to be determined.
20:38 And when we look at commercial models,
20:40 it really depends on the region, and in some cases,
20:44 even the country that we are going into.
20:46 The goal of Sirius Digitech right now
20:49 is to make sure that we are understanding
20:52 how do we put technology to the good of the environment,
20:57 the economy, and society, using India as a testbed,
21:02 using Adani's wealth of resources
21:06 to prove that business value.
21:08 Sirius Digitech is then the owner
21:11 of many of the pieces of intellectual property
21:14 and many of the technology advancements
21:15 that will come out of that.
21:17 Whether Digitech is the company,
21:18 Sirius Digitech is the company that then brings those
21:21 to other countries and commercializes them,
21:23 whether we do that through other partnerships
21:26 will be determined at a later date.
21:27 And as I said, it will really depend on the region
21:29 and the countries that we're going into.
21:31 Certainly, but the question was,
21:33 or the intention behind the question
21:36 was to understand the commercial nature
21:39 of the partnership going forward
21:41 and how it will be remunerative to both parties
21:45 heading into 2030, which you've illustrated
21:48 is an immense potential, right?
21:49 You're talking about the technology economy in India
21:54 reaching as large as, what, $1 trillion.
21:56 So I was trying to understand
21:58 how that commercial aspect will play out.
22:00 - Okay, so this is certainly a commercial venture.
22:06 We're going into this right now with the understanding
22:08 that there is value to be captured,
22:10 value to be extracted if we are able to deploy technology
22:14 in the right way.
22:15 We certainly have selected India,
22:17 as you rightly pointed out,
22:18 partly because of the fact that we see the ICT industry
22:21 contributing up to a trillion dollars to the Indian economy
22:24 in another seven or six years.
22:27 And we will be looking to capture that value.
22:29 What we do is look to retain that value for ourselves
22:34 because that helps us to invest
22:37 in further innovative technologies,
22:40 but there is enough value to be captured
22:42 that we're able to share that with our customers
22:45 and with the societies as well.
22:47 So this is a commercial exercise.
22:49 We want to make sure that we capture
22:51 a very large part of that, of course,
22:54 and we use that to the benefit
22:57 of our innovation and research programs,
22:59 but it's also very much about trying to understand
23:01 how do we make it economically viable
23:04 to start addressing some of the really big problems
23:06 that we have from a social and environmental impact as well.
23:10 - Certainly.
23:11 Last question, Richard, which relates to timelines,
23:14 which I'm sure are very hard to pen down, I guess,
23:18 but you must have had some thought
23:20 behind how you would like to see these progressing.
23:23 Some of these solutions that you say will be built
23:27 with the test bed that India is
23:28 and what the Adani Group is providing you with,
23:31 what are the timelines that you're anticipating
23:33 on some of the solutions that you intend to develop?
23:36 - We will start to see value
23:39 on some of these in 90 days or less.
23:41 If we think about some of the manufacturing facilities
23:44 where we have geographically discrete locations,
23:47 and we're able to deploy the technology very quickly
23:50 in a confined area,
23:52 we will start to see value moving very quickly.
23:55 As we start to expand out into ports
23:58 and the special economic zones
24:00 where you have larger geographic area,
24:02 but it is still relatively contained and controlled,
24:06 we will start to see value flowing in six to 12 months.
24:09 If we look at the more diffuse economic and social impacts
24:14 across education and across healthcare
24:17 and across the environment,
24:18 those are naturally going to take
24:20 a much longer period of time to mature,
24:23 but we still see that there's value to be found
24:26 in the next 24 to 36 months.
24:29 This is a long-term partnership,
24:32 and we're going into this with a full understanding
24:35 of how we can benefit each other, Adani and Sirius.
24:38 That is really the overarching philosophy
24:41 behind Sirius Digitech,
24:43 but we also believe that there is value to be unlocked
24:46 in very, very short periods of time as well.
24:50 And that's really the intention
24:52 behind the deployment of artificial intelligence
24:54 is giving us the ability to create
24:56 a sense and response capability
24:59 that helps us to understand if we do this today,
25:02 we see the results of that in a very short period of time.
25:05 We don't need to wait for one or two or three
25:07 economic quarters, for example,
25:10 before we start to see the impact.
25:11 - Fantastic. Thank you so much, Richard,
25:13 for breaking that down for us.
25:14 And look forward to touching base with you
25:17 in maybe 90 days to figure out
25:19 where the first few solutions are headed.
25:21 Thank you so much once again for speaking to us.
25:24 - Thank you. It will be a pleasure.
25:26 - All right, viewers, do stay tuned.
25:27 Lots more coming up in just a bit.
25:29 This is NDTV Profit.
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