That makes him the first entrepreneur to sell solar power commercially in India. Wadhwa also co-founded and sold a software education company in Silicon Valley a few years back. And though he's still associated with the word 'silicon', it does not relate to information technology. Instead, he's now the founder & chief executive officer of Azure Power, a solar photovoltaic company that he founded two years ago in India.
"I returned to India after 15 years to make a difference, besides making money," says Wadhwa. In 2007, he started on his vision to set up India's first private solar power plant.
"Many small and big companies have entered the fray but none of them have commissioned any projects yet," he adds. Commercial and sentimental reasons dictated his choice of Punjab. "I was born in Amritsar, so I wanted to give something back to this place," he said.