World Energy Council – Indian Member Committee joined hands with Energy Saving Commission of World Foundrymen Organization to celebrate the Akshay Urja Diwas on 20th August 2008 in New Delhi on the occasion of Birth Anniversary of Former Prime Minister Late Sh. Rajiv Gandhi who advocated the use of Renewable Energy. A dinner meet on the theme "Climate Change & Hydro Vision was organized at Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi. The eminent speakers included; Mr. R.V. Shahi, Former Secretary (Power) and Chairman - Energy Infratech, Mr. Prakash Kumar, Joint Secretary – Ministry of Earth Sciences, Mr. Yogendra Prasad, Chairman – Uttarakhand Jal VIdyut Nigam, Mr. T.N. Thakur, CMD, PTC India Ltd., Mr. R.K. Behera, Chairman – RSB Group, Pune and Mr. Vijay Prakash Saha, Chairman – Energy Saving Commission, WFO.

Mr. J.K. Mehta, GM (World Energy Council –Indian Member Committee) welcomed the august gathering which included the who's who of Energy sector namely; Dr. Kirit Parikh, Member – Planning Commission, Dr. Jyoti Parikh, ED – IRADe, Mr. H.L. Bajaj, Member – Apellate Tribunal of Electricity, Mr. C.P. Jain, Former CMD – NTPC, Mr. P.S. Bami, Former CMD – NTPC and President IEF, Mr. V. Raghuraman, Sr. Adviser – Energy, CII, Dr. S.K. Chopra, Sr. Advisor – MNRE, Mr. Arun Tripathi, Dr. Ahmar Raza and Dr. Chopra, Director - MNRE, Mr. R.K. Sharma, Former CMD, THDC, Mr. C.V.J. Verma, President, C.P.U and Sr. Executives of NTPC, PFC, PTC and other energy organizations and Indian Institute of Foundry men.

Mr. Vijay Prakash Saha delivered a powerful and energetic theme address encouraging the energy sector to lead and direct mighty thoughts and mighty actions for achieving sustainable and equitable energy security.

Mr. T.N. Thakur while sharing his thoughts with the audience, said that he was pained to read that mankind is burdening the earth 60% more then it can sustain and advocated for supply and demand side management and effective and efficient use of resources.

Mr. R.V. Shahi praised the organizers for a well deliberated theme which was very apt in the Indian context. He categorically stated that there are two key blunders that have led to today's problems - one that the whole world has paid very little attention to research in solar power and second that all Hydro has not been recognized as renewables. He called for pursuing of all options of energy to meet India energy sector challenges.

Mr. R.K. Behera presented snap shots of the Indian's Power sector and investor's perspective on the same.

Mr. Prakash Kumar in his speech apprised the audience of the new Ministry of Earth Sciences that has been formed and which he was representing. He described the Government's commitment to better understanding of climate change scenarios so that scientists can help engineers adopt better mitigation and adaptation measures to combat climate change.

Mr. Yogendra Prasad expressed his concern on the inadequacy of the power sector in meeting the Prime Minister's hydro initiative of 50,000 MW and stressed on a strong technical knowhow of the investers for completion of the projects.

This was followed by a lively discussion amongst the participants on the theme and the road map for power sector.

The event also saw the institution of Akshaya Urja Gold Award by IIF which was conferred on Mr. R.K. Behera, Chairman – RSB group for his visionary investment plans and implementation strategies to take a giant leap into renewable energy. The award was presented to him by Dr. Kirit Parikh, Member – Planning Commission and Mr. Yogendra Prasad.