Bio
Abhijit Basu is a compassionate technology entrepreneur focused on solving problems that affect people, industry and the environment. With more than 30 years of experience building technology businesses and commercializing new technologies, his career has been defined by pioneering work and a conviction that technology matters when it solves real problems for large populations and can be produced, financed, deployed and adopted at scale. Today, Abhijit is working to build India’s first hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (H₂DRI) plant, applying hydrogen to one of the most difficult industrial decarbonization challenges: making iron for steel without relying on carbon-based reductants. The project brings together his experience in technology, energy, industrial systems and climate finance. His earlier work included surface capacitive touch technology used in smart devices and web conferencing, which changed how people communicate and work. For more than two decades, he has also worked with communities, industry and public stakeholders in the United States and India on pollution, emissions and air quality. He contributed to the development of California Assembly Bill 617 (AB 617), establishing community-focused programs to measure and reduce air pollution in heavily impacted communities. As founder and Keeper of the Purpose of Smartex, Abhijit focuses on hydrogen, H₂DRI, energy, steel decarbonization, remote sensing, industrial technology and climate finance. He originated Financing Steel Decarbonization (FSD) through the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance and developed the Business Technology Humanity (BTH) Sustainability Visibility Framework, connecting technology, finance, environmental performance, safety, risk, biodiversity and human impact. Abhijit has been invited to premier global forums, including the World Bank, WEF LEADIT and FMC workshops, to share his perspective on industrial decarbonization and emerging technologies. His aim is clear: move industrial decarbonization from ambition to projects that can be financed, built and scaled.