Rajiv Ratna Panda

Rajiv Panda is an international energy expert, electrical engineer, and energy and climate policy professional with nearly two decades of experience in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. He has extensive experience in cross border energy trade; regional energy and power grid integration strategies; regional power and energy markets; policy, regulatory, legal, technical, operational planning, investment, political-economy, and geopolitical aspects of cross-border and electricity trade; regional Institution building; clean energy transition; sustainable development, climate change; and energy security.

Mr. Panda currently works as Regional Energy Trade Lead for USAID’s flagship regional energy program, the South Asia Regional Energy Partnership. Previously, he worked for USAID’s South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration (SARI/EI) Program implemented by India Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), a leading think tank in India. He also has worked in power plant operation and high voltage electricity substation development.  

Mr. Panda is a trained electrical engineer and received a Master of Business Administration in energy with a major in Finance from Thapar University. He holds advanced post graduate degrees in Engineering Management and in Power Transmission & Distribution Engineering. He was selected as a CLEAN EDGE ASIA Fellow and has authored more than 80 national and international publications.

Outside of his professional area of expertise, he takes interest in very diverse areas such as history, sociocultural, interfaith, Vedic philosophy, space science, plant species, artificial intelligence, political psychology, and philosophy.