Shrashtant Patara is Chief Executive Officer of Technology & Action for Rural Advancement (TARA), a social enterprise based in New Delhi, India.

TARA is an “incubation engine” of the Development Alternatives Group which has been providing development solutions in India and elsewhere.

Shrashtant Patara has been with the Development Alternatives Group since 1988, providing research expertise, management capability and strategic direction to teams of up to 60 persons engaged in the promotion sustainable technology, creation of green jobs and fulfilment of basic needs amongst the rural poor.

His work focuses on the incubation of new service delivery models, enterprise packages and capacity building measures; foremost amongst which are initiatives aimed at taking green economy solutions to scale in the areas of renewable energy based rural electrification, affordable housing, clean drinking water and waste recycling.

He studied architecture at the School of Planning & Architecture in New Delhi, India.

Shrashtant Patara has been instrumental in the development of social businesses – TARA Machines & Tech Services; TARAlife Sustainability Solutions; TARAurja, a renewable energy based micro-utility business; and the Indian Micro Enterprises Development Foundation, a platform to deliver enterprise support services at scale.

He is a Fellow of The Rockefeller Foundation’s Global Program on Social Innovation, has been a member of the Indo-German Expert Group on Green & Inclusive Economy, and served as a jury member for the international SEED Awards for Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Development.

He presented “We ‘Re-materialize’” at the inaugural Holcim Roundtable held at MIT Endicott House, Boston, MA, USA (2014) and also participated in the 2nd Holcim Roundtable held in Einsiedeln, Switzerland (2015).

Shrashtant Patara was a workshop expert at the 6th International LafargeHolcim Forum for Sustainable Construction in Cairo, April 4-6, 2019.