Hitesh Doshi: The Journey From ₹5,000 to $5.2 Billion Renewable Energy Tycoon

Sakshi Jadhav, Sahil Nayar

Nov 14, 2024 — 6 min read

Hitesh Doshi: The Journey From ₹5,000 to $5.2 Billion Renewable Energy Tycoon

Waaree Energies is led by the visionary Chairman and Managing Director Hitesh Chimanlal Doshi, who has not only changed the face of Indian solar but has also set an example of entrepreneurship. He was born on Feb 22, 1967, in a small village, Tunki, in Maharashtra, where he grew up in an economic and resource-poor family.

Doshi had a dream to make a better future for himself and to be part of constructing India’s energy needs. What started as a small venture manufacturing pressure and temperature gauges has evolved into a colossal enterprise: India’s largest solar energy company, Waaree Energies.

In this StartupTalky story, we will cover his early life, his struggles, Waaree Group’s founding, and more. We will look at how innovative Hitesh Doshi has been in becoming a business tycoon. We will also learn about the investments made, controversies, and remarkable recognitions he has achieved for his role in India's renewable energy sector.

Biography

Name	Hitesh Doshi
Born	February 22, 1967
Birth Place	Tunki, Maharashtra
Education	Khoteawar Maharaj Vidhyalay Eklara Buldhana Bachelor's Degree in Commerce, Shri Chinai College of Commerce & Economics, University of Mumbai. Doctorate in professional entrepreneurship in business project management, European Continental University
Profession	Chairman and Managing Director of Waaree Group
Net Worth	$5.2 Billion
Parents	Chimanlal Doshi (Father)
Children	Chaitali Doshi (Daughter) Ankit Doshi (Son)
Siblings	Pankaj Doshi Kirit Doshi Viren Doshi

Hitesh Doshi - Early Life and Education
Hitesh Doshi - Career
Hitesh Doshi - Waaree Energies
Hitesh Doshi - Investments
Hitesh Doshi - Awards and Recognitions

Hitesh Doshi - Early Life and Education

Hitesh Doshi - Chairman and Managing Director of Waaree Energies

The founder of Waaree Group, Hitesh Chimanlal Doshi, comes from a modest background in the Buldhana district of Maharashtra, India. Doshi grew up in a village without electricity or telephones. The family was always under financial constraint, and his father had a small grocery store, but he kept plugging away to build a better future.

Education was a way to provide Doshi with avenues of opportunity; however, his village school taught up to only the 7th grade. Doshi had to cycle daily to a nearby village to pursue further studies. It didn’t scare him; it motivated him to forge beyond the walls of his upbringing. Doshi later went to Shri Chinai College of Commerce & Economics at the University of Mumbai and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in commerce in 1987.

Doshi spent his college years in a hostel in Nagdevi, Mumbai, where he began his entrepreneurial career. Doshi soon became aware that financial independence is important, so he traded and ran a bit of business to keep himself, picking up valuable skills and experience that would one day help him in the renewable energy sector.

Hitesh Doshi - Career

Doshi started his first business with a small loan of INR 5,000 from a relative, manufacturing pressure and temperature gauges. The Waaree Group took this modest beginning as a big step towards its success.

Founding Waaree Energies was a bold step into the renewable energy sector by Hitesh Doshi. Doshi’s company began producing temperature and pressure gauges for industrial uses and soon realized a burgeoning business niche in solar energy. Globally, there is an increasing demand for alternative, sustainable energy solutions, which was a crucial time for India’s energy landscape.

In the early days of Waaree Energies, Doshi spent most of his time creating solar modules. At this time, India was not a major player in the global solar market, and domestic manufacturers were few. As Doshi led Waaree Energies, it managed to carve a space for itself as a niche player in India's solar market, providing high-quality products for both the residential and industrial markets.

Hitesh Doshi - Waaree Energies

Seeing increasing demand for clean energy all over the world, Waaree Energies began scaling up its operations. The company expanded its solar module manufacturing capability in the mid-2000s and gained a reputation for reliability and quality. Doshi, however, helped Waaree Energies become a leader in India’s solar energy sector even in the face of stiff competition from international players, especially China.

Doshi recognized Waaree’s footprint beyond India, and he realised that the company had the potential to tap into global markets. Government incentives to encourage renewable energy adoption allowed the company to begin exporting solar modules to places like the U.S. The turning point for Waaree was that it was able to reach more lucrative international markets and spread its revenue base.

In 2015, Doshi was instrumental in setting up Waaree Energies’ modern solar module manufacturing facility in Tumb, Gujarat. Investment in the plant was INR 8,000 crore, and it became one of the largest solar panel manufacturing facilities in India. This was a huge expansion, which helped Waaree to increase its production capacity and to serve better the rising domestic and international demand for solar panels.

By 2018, Waaree Energies had become a leader in India’s solar sector. It gained a reputation as a high-performance solar panel company that was trusted across residential and commercial markets. However, Waaree’s expansion was not only manufacturing; it also included a push into solar power generation and EPC services, which were vital to meet the requirements of large-scale infrastructure projects.

Waaree Energies, under Doshi’s leadership, filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). This was a big step for the company and a marker of readiness for the next stage. The Waaree Energies IPO generated INR 2,800 crore (around $514 million), which became one of the major investments by Doshi and his company. The IPO was meant to raise capital to expand production capacity and advance research and development, as India pushed for more renewable energy.

Waaree, a part of Waaree Bluegrip, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Waaree Group, headquartered in Rajkot, India, continued its international growth strategy through solidification of the company's position in the U.S. market. Waaree took advantage of the U.S. government’s clean energy focus by offering high-quality, competitively priced solar products free from Chinese influence, Doshi said. Waaree’s strategic move helped it gain a competitive advantage in one of the biggest solar markets in the world.

Under the leadership of Doshi, Waaree Energies focused on innovation and brought new solar technologies to market to improve efficiency and costs. The company started to concentrate more on the development of high-efficiency solar modules to fortify India’s position as a global leader in renewable energy.

To date, Waaree Energies, under the leadership of Hitesh Doshi, has been expanding and innovating. As a leading contributor to India’s renewable energy goals, the company has played an important role in India’s aspiration to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and achieve greater energy independence. Doshi has been instrumental in pushing the boundaries of sustainable manufacturing in India’s solar landscape, and Waaree’s impact on India’s solar landscape is undeniable.

Hitesh Doshi - Investments

The Chairman of Waaree Energies, Hitesh Chimanlal Doshi, has been investing heavily in the renewable energy sector through his company, Waaree Energies. Solar cell manufacturing is the company’s focus, and it has emerged as a leading player in the Indian energy landscape, with a manufacturing capacity of 12,000 MW installed. Doshi's family also owns a large stake in Waaree Renewable Technologies and Waaree Technologies, both listed companies in engineering and energy storage solutions.