In this episode, I’m joined by Pardeep Garg, co-founder and CEO of CRID India — Centre for Research and Implementation for Decarbonization.
With a background spanning IISc in Bengaluru, MIT in the US, and multiple climate-tech startups, Pardeep is uniquely positioned at the intersection of technical research and real-world execution.
CRID India identifies itself as a think tank and implementation agency, focusing on “hard-to-abate” sectors in industry, and agriculture, where Pardeep points out that even though there exist well-understood technologies that are more energy efficient and therefore emission reducing, their adoption has not taken off, because of the initial costs involved, lack of awareness and so on.
In this episode, he discusses examples, such as heat pumps, which he says could be India’s next big success story, comparable to solar energy, and details his team’s work in building the nation’s first industrial heat map.
More efficient motors of IE 4 or IE 5 (international energy efficiency) rating are another example, as is drip irrigation.
We also discuss CRID India’s aim of becoming a “systems integrator” for energy transition in the country, where solving for climate change requires aligning policy, finance, and stakeholder interests beyond just engineering.
Indian Railways gets its first hydrogen fuel cell powered train
The modernization of Indian Railways has hitherto relied on continual expansion of overhead electrification of its vast broad-gauge network. The state-run network is now charting a more autonomous path toward decarbonization.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the country’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered trainset, at Jind from where the train will make a 90 km journey to Sonipat, both towns in the northern Indian state of Haryana.
The fuel cell technology, using a proton-exchange electrolyser, generates electricity through an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen. The electricity is stored in lithium-ion batteries, which will power the train’s electric engine.
The project seeks to demonstrate that clean rail mobility can be achieved without relying entirely on an external power grid.
This new trainset (locomotives + trailer cars) revives the historical operational independence of steam and diesel locomotives — albeit with water vapour as its only by-product. Built using indigenous technology integrated by Medha Servo Drives and the Integral Coach Factory, the configuration features two driving power cars delivering 1,200 kW of power, pulling eight trailer coaches.
Capable of carrying roughly 2,600 passengers at design speeds of up to 110 kilometres per hour, the initiative marks a significant structural scaling up of a propulsion system that has hitherto been confined to much smaller regional deployments.
The deployment comes as rail operators worldwide face intensifying pressure to eliminate fossil fuels and meet strict national net-zero targets. While early adoption of hydrogen passenger trains has been concentrated in Europe—most notably in Germany — and via pilot programmes in China and Japan, these initiatives have generally been confined to modest two- or three-coach configurations.
India’s venture represents a bolder bet on the scale and commercial viability of high-capacity hydrogen transit, backed by the establishment of the country’s largest dedicated railway hydrogen refuelling facility at Jind to support continuous, regular operations.
“Most hydrogen passenger trains currently operating globally comprise only two or three coaches and are primarily deployed on short regional routes,” the Ministry of Railways noted in a press release yesterday. “In contrast, the Indian Railways trainset has been configured as a 10-coach passenger train with a capacity of around 2,600 passengers, demonstrating the scalability of hydrogen-powered rail transport for high-capacity passenger operations.”
Safety concerns, because of the highly combustible nature of hydrogen gas, and the steep infrastructure costs required to grow and sustain these trains are two important challenges.
To manage the safety risks inherent to handling a highly flammable, odourless gas, the network has implemented a multi-layered “defence in depth” safety system, certified by Germany’s TÜV SÜD. The ecosystem includes continuous leak detection, automatic fuel shut-offs, and specialized ventilation systems.
If the Jind–Sonipat trials prove commercially reliable, the railway ministry plans to expand the rollout to heritage lines such as the Kalka–Shimla route, marking a calculated transition from a novelty pilot to a core pillar of India’s broader National Green Hydrogen Mission.
In this episode, I’m joined by Mredul Sarda, an operator-investor in early-stage deep tech and now a cybersecurity entrepreneur. Mredul’s experience-packed journey began at IIT Bombay, where he earned a BTech in electrical engineering, and an MTech in deep learning. While at the institute, he was also a member of the team that designed and…
Founder Spotlight
A weekly recommendation of a founder conversation. Changes every Friday.
In this episode, I’m joined by Mredul Sarda, an operator-investor in early-stage deep tech and now a cybersecurity entrepreneur.
Mredul’s experience-packed journey began at IIT Bombay, where he earned a BTech in electrical engineering, and an MTech in deep learning. While at the institute, he was also a member of the team that designed and launched Pratham, widely thought of as India’s first student-led satellite.
After a stint in strategy consulting, his tryst with Indian startups started not with deep tech but via a vital role at the fintech company Slice, where he played an important role in scaling the venture to unicorn valuation.
Mredul, who was already an angel investor, co-founded Riceberg Ventures with Ankit Anand, Lino Gandola, and Shubham Raj. The firm launched its flagship $20 million Riceberg Ventures Premier Fund I in early 2025 to back global pre-seed deep tech ventures. Even as they expand Riceberg into Silicon Valley, Mredul and Shubham have also kicked off their own entrepreneurial venture in the area of AI-led cybersecurity, with their startup Causal Security.
Causal Security offers an AI-based platform building autonomous “AI hackers” to surface and defend vulnerabilities in enterprise infrastructure. Join us as to get a glimpse into Mredul’s vision for India’s sovereign technical capabilities and his own evolution from operator to investor to investor-entrepreneur.
