JSW Energy: Primary Research That Changed Company Strategy
Conducted competitive primary research across eight energy companies, turning interviews into implemented strategy.
Nirvan Bhimrajka
Management Trainee - Investments Team at BlackSoil
From their time as
Intern in COO’s Office
JSW Steel • 2024 - 2024
Overview
Nirvan joined JSW Energy's COO office with a clear mandate: understand why competitors were executing renewable energy projects faster, and identify what JSW could do differently.
The Story
Nirvan joined JSW Energy's COO office with a clear mandate: understand why competitors were executing renewable energy projects faster, and identify what JSW could do differently.
He spent the first month reading annual reports and earnings call transcripts of eight competing energy companies alongside JSW's own filings. By the end of that month, he had filled nearly half a notebook with questions he could not answer from public documents alone.
With that foundation, he moved to primary research. He reached out on LinkedIn to ex-employees of JSW's competitors, targeting people across all levels: junior staff, mid-level managers, and division heads including ex-solar heads, ex-wind heads, and ex-hydro heads. Getting them to respond was not straightforward. These were senior professionals from a traditional industry, and Nirvan was a college student. He kept following up, day after day and week after week, until he got a definitive yes or no from each person.
Once on calls, his questions were specific and grounded in the research he had already done. That preparation earned him credibility, and several interviewees referred him to others in their networks. In total, he spoke with 15 to 20 people outside JSW, building a picture of the strategic differences between the company and its competitors.
Findings and Presentation
One of the most significant findings was the land banking model used by a competitor. That company had a dedicated team in every region of India whose sole job was acquiring land ahead of project bids. JSW, by contrast, would win a bid and only then begin searching for land, creating delays in execution.
Nirvan distilled his findings into eight strategic recommendations and presented them to senior management. The allotted slot was one hour. The discussion ran for two hours. The CEO brought in heads from other departments to hear the findings directly.
The pushback was real: every point was challenged, and Nirvan had to defend each one. His evidence held. Several recommendations were adopted, including the land banking model. JSW has since hired people across regions specifically for land acquisition, shifting from a reactive to a proactive approach to project execution.