Prasanta Sarkar, Co-founder and CEO, Newtrace
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
The next in the series featuring conversations with entrepreneurs, technologists and researchers about emerging technologies and what students need to know about these fields.
What do you do?
I am the co-founder and CEO of Newtrace, a Bengaluru-based deep-tech start-up focused on green hydrogen technology. Green hydrogen is produced using clean sources such as water and renewable electricity compared to grey hydrogen, which uses CO2-emitting hydrocarbons. At Newtrace, we are working on developing technologies to enable production of green hydrogen at the lowest cost from renewable electricity and water. We design, develop and manufacture electrolysers with improved efficiency and lower cost while aiming to reduce the reliance on rare earth metals.
My background is in Aerospace Engineering. I have a Ph.D. in fluid mechanics and energy engineering. I have also worked in Leonardo Helicopters.
Why is your work important?
Green hydrogen is significant because it addresses critical challenges in energy, climate and economic growth. It will play a vital role in reducing emissions from hard-to-abate sectors like steel, refineries, chemicals, cement, aviation, shipping and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, thus enhancing energy security for nations. Green hydrogen is essential to achieve global net zero emission targets, support cleaner industrial processes and foster innovation, job creation and investments in renewable energy infrastructure.
What is exciting about your work?
What makes our work truly exciting is its profound impact on the future of energy and climate. We work at the intersection of technology development along with solving for mass scale manufacturing and reliability of the systems — all with the single goal of delivering green hydrogen to our customers at the lowest cost.
Any experiences in college that led you to become an entrepreneur?
Until college, I had been driven primarily by my curiosity. In college, I landed among a group of not only curious and intellectually smart individuals but also bold decision makers. That experience was transformative for me — to be able to make decisions independently with limited information, to counter self-doubt yet choose the path less taken. That framework provided the foundation to embrace risks and chart my unique path as an entrepreneur.
What should students know about your field?
Students should understand the massive changes and opportunities associated with the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. Clean energy refers to energy sources that produces little to no greenhouse gas emissions, thereby helping combat climate change. Most clean energy sources like solar or wind are intermittent in availability. Therefore, it is important to build different forms of energy sources as well as storage and utilisation technologies. The global energy challenges we face today will be solved only through diverse approaches and technologies, and green hydrogen is an important component of that.
The writer is an avid follower of emerging technologies and their applications.
Published – May 10, 2025 07:30 pm IST
