Hitesh Chimanlal Doshi and Family

Hitesh Doshi pivoted from industrial gauges to solar modules after a trade fair in Germany. India's largest solar manufacturer grew from that visit.

Doshi started his energy business in 1985 with a loan of Rs 5,000, initially trading instrument gauges before moving into manufacturing pressure gauges and industrial valves for thermal energy. A visit to a trade fair in Germany in 2007 prompted the pivot that defined his subsequent career. He moved into solar module manufacturing at a point when the domestic industry had little infrastructure and government support for renewable energy was minimal.

Waaree Energies is now India's largest solar module manufacturer by capacity, with over 12 GW of annual production. Doshi has since committed Rs 10,000 crore to build a 20 GWh lithium-ion cell and battery pack manufacturing facility, a move that would extend the company from module production into the energy storage segment that solar deployment increasingly requires. The trajectory from instrument gauges to integrated energy storage in four decades reflects a series of adjacent moves, each building on the manufacturing capabilities and supply relationships established in the previous step.