E217 - He’s Building a Battery Empire to Challenge China Devansh Jain, InoxGFL Group

What does it take to challenge China in energy, batteries, and manufacturing—without being a tech founder? And how is one Indian group quietly building a ₹1.5 lakh crore empire across India’s most strategic industries?In this episode, we sit down with Devansh Jain, Executive Director of the InoxGFL Group, one of India’s most ambitious conglomerates operating at the intersection of chemicals, renewables, and infrastructure.From building India’s largest battery chemical plant outside China to manufacturing wind turbines, solar modules, and fluoropolymers, Devansh is not chasing valuation — he’s building real industrial power. This is a rare deep dive into the mindset, systems, and scale thinking behind one of India's most important (and under-discussed) business empires.We explore how Inox is playing the long game on energy transition, how Devansh allocates capital across 5+ companies, and why the group is allergic to debt but addicted to scale.This episode isn’t startup hype. It’s what it looks like to build India's future energy backbone.We explore:•⁠ ⁠Why India needs 75 GW of renewable energy added every year•⁠ ⁠How Devansh is building a battery chemicals empire to challenge China•⁠ ⁠Why he believes manufacturing should stop crying about subsidies•⁠ ⁠How he allocates ₹1000s of crores across solar, wind, and EV chemicals•⁠ ⁠What it takes to build multiple companies with multiple CEOs at once•⁠ ⁠Why he doesn’t care about “startup metrics” and bets on capex instead•⁠ ⁠How he hires leadership, retains control, and stays paranoid•⁠ ⁠The untold economics behind EVs, grid storage, and industrial dominance•⁠ ⁠How he rebuilt Inox Wind after losing ₹500 Cr/year for 5 years•⁠ ⁠The real psychology of building at scale without losing your edgeWhether you’re a founder thinking about India’s energy future, an operator learning how to build at scale, or a policy nerd trying to understand what's really powering India’s economy — this episode will challenge what you think success looks like.⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Intro02:27 — What have you done in business over the past 15 years?04:01 — What is the Inox GFL Group and what industries do they operate in?10:22 — How has his father influenced his life?14:13 — What’s your inspiration?18:14 — Energy trends and key opportunities20:00 — What is the government targeting?23:49 — India vs China: Ecosystem growth and efficiency26:55 — How much is being invested in solar, and what powers it at scale?32:22 — How do you manage it all?35:15 — How do you spend your time daily?42:22 — Where do new opportunities lie for entrepreneurs?47:06 — What does it take to close a B2B deal at scale?50:00 — What does it take to close deals with capital allocators at scale?55:44 — Lessons learned building business at scale01:00:04 — What’s happening beyond the daily work?01:02:14 — How would his friends describe him?01:03:26 — If GFL didn’t exist, what would you be doing?01:04:00 — What advice would he give his younger self at graduation?01:07:05 — Outro🔗 Support the PodcastIf this episode helped you, share it with a founder, leave a comment, and

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E217 - He’s Building a Battery Empire to Challenge China Devansh Jain, InoxGFL Group is an episode from Indian Silicon Valley by Jivraj Singh Sachar.

This episode is 01:07:21 long.

This episode was published on May 25, 2025.

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