Investor And Policymaker Jayant Sinha On Indian Economy And India’s Net Zero Goals

A seasoned investor who ran India's Finance Ministry.

This week on The Neon Show, we welcome Jayant Sinha—Investor, Policy Maker, and former Minister of Finance & Civil Aviation.

Mr. Sinha shares how the government builds innovative investment solutions for startups and large-scale funding programs for institutions.

He played a key role in launching a ₹2,000 crore Fund of Funds, which invests in startups through domestic VCs. He was also instrumental in establishing India’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, managing ₹39,000 crore in assets as of 2024.

As Civil Aviation Minister, he worked on policies like UDAN to make aviation more inclusive and played a key role in DigiYatra, driving digital transformation in air travel.

Mr. Sinha is focused on policies that drive India’s economic growth in a climate-conscious way. From research to action, he is working across policy, investment, and technology to shape India’s path towards Net Zero.

Read Jayant Sinha’s Latest book : “India’s Green Startups:Entrepreneurs That are Driving Growth” - https://www.amazon.in/India%EF%BF%BDs-Green-Startups-Entrepreneurs-Paperback/dp/9353458633  

00:00 - Highlights
03:01 – Growing up in a diplomat household
05:34 – Working at McKinsey
06:48 – The Opportunity cost of a political career
08:03 – From Harvard to Hazaribagh
09:18 – Exposure to Policymaking & elections
11:52 – First electoral win in 2014
14:37 – Twice chosen as Union Minister
15:33 – Arun Jaitley: Also an Excellent Advocate
16:55 – India’s Sovereign Wealth fund
18:17 – Higher Education Financing Agency
19:32 – Taxation of Alternative Investment Funds
20:17 – Fund of Funds for Domestic VC’s
21:47 – Aviation Reforms: UDAN & Digiyatra
30:26 – Privatization of Air India
33:32 – India’s vision to lead globally
35:42 – India's path to a green future
39:31 – The CO₂ blanket effect
42:04 – Nuclear fusion as a zero-carbon solution
44:24 – Why land will be hotter
46:13 – How climate change affects Economy
48:57 – India’s Net Zero Goals
50:04 – $1 Trillion Investment to Finance Net Zero
55:00 – Scaling green businesses in India
56:26 – Global North’s carbon responsibility vs India’s emissions
1:00:52 – Chronic health effects of pollution on children
1:02:07 – What India can learn from Beijing
1:06:42 – India’s Net Zero Bill & global legislation
1:08:08 – Personal connection to The Environmental Cause
1:12:47 – Trump’s impact on the global green mission
1:15:05 – Why India must invest in R&D
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Hi, I am your host Siddhartha! I have been an entrepreneur from 2012-2017 building two products AddoDoc and Babygogo. After selling my company to SHEROES, I and my partner Nansi decided to start up again. But we felt unequipped in our skillset in 2018 to build a large company. We had known 0-1 journeys from our startups but lacked the experience of building 1-10 journeys. 

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