The Boy Who Became a Leader — My Story with Sunil Badesra

People of Su-Kam — #4

Twelve Young Engineers and One Bet

In 2008, we made a deliberate decision at Su-Kam. We went to Apeejay College of Engineering in Gurgaon and hired twelve fresh graduates — all at once — as Graduate Engineer Trainees. It was a bet on potential. On young minds who had not yet been shaped by someone else’s way of doing things, who could learn the inverter industry from the ground up, who could grow with the company.

Most of those twelve stayed with us for years. The team was good. The energy was right. But even within a strong group, certain people stand apart — not because they push themselves forward, but because something in how they carry themselves, how they handle people, how they absorb pressure, tells you that they are built for more than the role they currently hold.

Sunil Badesra was that person.

“Even within a strong group, certain people stand apart — not because they push themselves forward, but because something in how they carry themselves tells you they are built for more.”

Across States, Across Dealer Meets

Sunil had completed his Bachelor’s in Electronics and Communication from Apeejay College of Engineering and joined us fresh out of college. He was young, he was new to the industry, and he had everything to learn. What struck me early was how quickly he learned — and how little he complained.

In the inverter business, the real education does not happen in the office. It happens on the road — in dealer meetings in small cities, in distributor conversations, in the moment when a customer is unhappy and you have to find a way through it with nothing but your judgment and your manner. I took Sunil across different states. We did dealer meets together. We were in rooms full of hard-nosed businesspeople who had seen a hundred sales pitches, and Sunil handled every one of those rooms with a maturity I did not expect from someone so young.

He was cool. He was calm. He never panicked, never over-promised, never lost his composure when things got difficult. In this industry — in any industry — that kind of temperament is worth more than technical knowledge, because technical knowledge can be taught but character cannot.

“He was cool. He was calm. He never panicked, never over-promised, never lost his composure when things got difficult. That kind of temperament is worth more than technical knowledge.”

A Natural with People

What made Sunil special was not just how he handled pressure — it was how he handled people. He had an instinctive understanding of how to read a room, how to make someone feel heard, how to build trust without pretending to be something he was not. I have seen many engineers struggle when they move into sales and market-facing roles. The shift requires a different intelligence. Sunil had it naturally.

His handling of dealers, distributors, and colleagues around him was excellent. He did not impose himself. He did not rely on authority. He built relationships — real ones, not transactional ones. And when you are building a brand through hundreds of channel partners across India, that quality is irreplaceable.

I was very fond of him. And I am not someone who says that easily. Fondness has to be earned.

I Raised Him, Step by Step

When I see potential in someone, I invest in it. Not just in words, but in responsibility. Sunil started as a Graduate Engineer Trainee. He became a Senior Executive. Then Deputy Manager. Then Regional Manager. Each step was earned — but I also made sure to give him those steps when he was ready, not just when convention said it was time.

That is what I believe a founder must do. The best people will not wait forever for recognition. If you see it, you must show it — through trust, through stretch assignments, through the signal that says: I see what you are capable of, and I am giving you the chance to prove it.

Sunil never let those chances go to waste.

Beyond the Office — A Family Bond

There are people you manage and people you care about. With Sunil, it was always both — but the caring ran deeper than work.

Sunil had lost his father. I came to know this over the years we worked together. I met his mother. She is a deeply pious woman — the kind of person who carries a quiet strength that you feel the moment you are in her presence. You understand, when you meet a mother like that, where her son’s character came from. The values were there, the foundation was there, from the beginning.

I went to his wedding. These are not things a founder does for every employee. But Sunil was not just an employee to me. He was someone I had watched grow from a fresh college graduate into a leader. Being present at a milestone like his marriage was not a gesture — it was what felt right.

The Moment I Gave Him His First Car

There is one moment that stays with me more than most. At one of Su-Kam’s milestone celebrations — we called it Lakshya — I gave Sunil his first company car. And I did not give it to him quietly or in a corner. I presented it on stage, in front of the entire company, at a big celebration event with lights and energy and the whole Su-Kam family present.

What made it even more meaningful was who was standing next to him — his mother. She had come for the occasion. There she was, in her saree, on that stage, watching her son receive this recognition from his company. I was standing right beside them. That moment — the pride on her face, the quiet gratitude in Sunil’s expression — is something I will not forget.

For a young man who had come to us as a fresh college graduate just a few years earlier, and who had lost his father — having that recognition witnessed by his mother was not just a professional milestone. It was personal. It meant something real.

“There are people you manage and people you care about. With Sunil, it was always both. I met his mother. I went to his wedding. He was not just an employee. He was someone I had watched grow.”

Where He Is Today

After Su-Kam, Sunil went on to complete his MBA in Marketing from MDI Gurgaon — one of India’s most respected management schools. The combination of deep field experience and formal management education sharpened what was already a formidable set of instincts.

He then moved through roles at Riello UPS and eventually joined Sungrow India — the Indian arm of Sungrow Power Supply Co., one of the world’s largest solar inverter manufacturers. Today, Sunil serves as Country Head at Sungrow India — the person responsible for the company’s entire market presence in one of the fastest-growing solar markets in the world.

Under his leadership, Sungrow India crossed the 50 GW milestone for PV inverter shipments — a number that represents not just commercial success but a genuine contribution to India’s solar energy future. Fifty gigawatts of solar capacity, managed through technology that Sunil’s team put in the field. That is an extraordinary number for any leader to have on their record.

What His Story Means

The people I am writing about in this series are not all the same kind of person. Some were already accomplished when they came to me — Venkat Rajaraman had worked at Nvidia; Jagdeep Chauhan had years of deep DSP experience. Sunil was different. He came to us at twenty-two, fresh from college, one of twelve young engineers we took a bet on together.

The fact that he is now leading one of the world’s largest solar inverter companies in the Indian market tells me that the bet was well placed. But more than that, it tells me something I have always believed: that leadership is not about where you come from. It is about what you carry inside you — the coolness, the patience, the genuine care for people around you — and whether someone gives you the chance to discover it.

I gave Sunil his first chance. Su-Kam gave him the ground to grow. And he has taken it further than even I could have predicted.

Also read: Jagdeep Chauhan — The Man Who Invented India’s Sine Wave Inverter  | 
Venkat Rajaraman — The Man Who Left Nvidia for a Dream  | 
Narender Singh Negi — The Man Always Lost in His Thoughts