Group General Counsel | Suzlon Energy
Sandeep Chowdury
Group General Counsel | Suzlon Energy
Team size: 42
What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?
The most significant cases, projects or transactions that me or my team have recently been involved are the following.
To begin with, the digitalisation of certain legal processes coupled with AI. I introduced Contract Management tool and Litigation Management tool, I developed inhouse tool for land due diligence and contracts and introduced PWC Compliance management tool for all group companies and ERM system.
The aforesaid actions, have, inter alia, saved a lot of time for the legal team and now they can focus on the qualitative issues and help the business to deliver in an apt and risk-free manner. The risks maps are duly being presented to the Board with proper mitigation plan. In all legal matters we are now much more proactive rather than being reactive. We have also created a repository of all the existing legacy agreement >5000 contracts and have defined a process flow for approval with escalation matrix.
Secondly, the acquisition of Renom. We have completed a 1500cr acquisition of a third-party WTG service provider company and evolved from being a captive to omni-channel service provider. The acquisition has also brought in a lot of cost synergies amongst the entities.
We have also successfully closed various transactional documents on working capital with Lenders - working capital inflow of >1000cr. I have worked on the merger of parent entity with sister concern and received the merger order from NCLT, received the well-known mark for “SUZLON”, successfully defended numerous trademark opposition against the company, both on India and abroad, handled numerous litigations and recovered a substantial amount.
I have also worked in the closing various big-ticket agreement with PSU, big corporates and retail investors, helped the company in increasing its order book and successfully handled major arbitration and received favorable awards.
I also handled various land litigation and dealt with authorities on encroachment related matters and dealt with regulatory authorities on Electricity laws and participated in industry white papers
How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?
To manage legal risks during periods of instability or crisis and to support organisational resilience, I focus on reinforcing governance and decision-making by activating a cross-functional legal crisis team, ensuring that all emergency actions are properly authorised and documented, and keeping the board fully informed of material legal and strategic risks. I prioritise reviewing and re-ordering contractual obligations by identifying critical contracts, carefully assessing the use of force majeure or similar relief clauses, negotiating pragmatic short-term flexibility with counterparties, and preserving evidence of disruption and mitigation efforts.
At the same time, I ensure continuity of compliance by closely monitoring rapidly evolving regulations, implementing temporary internal controls where necessary, and strengthening data protection and cyber-security safeguards. Protecting the workforce is also essential, which involves ensuring employment law compliance during restructurings, addressing heightened health, safety and ESG risks, and maintaining clear and consistent internal communications. I also work to safeguard the organisation’s financial and reputational position by monitoring liquidity and covenant risks, engaging early with lenders, reviewing and notifying insurers of potential claims, and aligning crisis communications to minimise legal exposure.
In parallel, I prepare for potential disputes by encouraging early resolution, preserving jurisdictional and arbitration rights, and maintaining litigation readiness through robust record-keeping. Throughout, I leverage technology and data, using contract and compliance tools and risk analytics to maintain visibility, monitor obligations in real time and anticipate emerging legal and regulatory risks.
What strategies do you employ to ensure the successful digital transformation of a legal department while maintaining compliance with your country’s data protection laws?
A successful digital transformation of a legal department, while remaining compliant with Indian data protection and confidentiality requirements such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act), calls for a structured, phased and governance-led approach. In my experience, this begins with defining a clear transformation vision and roadmap by setting measurable objectives, such as contract lifecycle automation, e-discovery, compliance dashboards or legal spend analytics, and assessing the department’s digital maturity to identify manual inefficiencies and prioritise technology that supports wider business goals.
Data protection must be embedded by design and by default, ensuring alignment with DPDP principles including notice, consent, purpose limitation and data retention, alongside clear classification of the personal data handled by the legal function, such as employee, litigation and compliance information. Selecting the right legal technology vendors is critical and involves assessing data localisation or India-compliant hosting options, carefully reviewing data processing agreements to meet DPDP and IT Act requirements, and carrying out robust due diligence. Digitisation should then be implemented through secure automation tools such as contract lifecycle management, matter management and e-billing systems, with responsible use of AI to avoid exposing confidential or privileged information, supported by governance committees overseeing adoption, vendor access and compliance.
This must be reinforced by strong internal policies and data governance, including updated information security, data handling and document retention policies, clear protocols for sharing data with external counsel and third parties, and appropriate confidentiality and technology-use clauses in employment and vendor contracts. Equally important is change management and upskilling, with targeted training on DPDP and IT Rules obligations, secure use of digital tools, and incident and data breach response, supported by KPIs that encourage adoption.
Finally, ongoing monitoring is essential, through regular data protection impact assessments for new technologies and periodic third-party audits to ensure sustained compliance and readiness.
How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?
General Counsel today is not just a legal gatekeeper but a strategic leader shaping how the organisation embeds ESG values into its DNA.
A General Counsel can foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels by leading by example and positioning ESG as a legal and strategic imperative, embedding it into the corporate purpose and framing it not as a CSR initiative but as integral to business resilience, reputation and long-term profitability.
This includes championing a strong tone from the top by advising the Board and CEO to articulate ESG commitments through internal communications, codes of conduct and business strategy, and linking ESG metrics to governance, compliance and enterprise risk management frameworks. ESG should be integrated into corporate governance structures by ensuring Board oversight through an ESG or Sustainability Committee with defined charters, updating Board policies such as risk, ethics and whistleblowing mechanisms to explicitly reference ESG concerns, and aligning executive compensation partly with ESG outcomes such as diversity, emissions and compliance adherence. From a legal and compliance perspective, ESG must be embedded into frameworks by reviewing contracts and policies to include ESG-related clauses covering supplier sustainability obligations, anti-bribery, human rights, diversity and ethical sourcing requirements, integrating ESG considerations into due diligence for M&A, vendors and investments, and developing compliance monitoring systems for evolving ESG-related laws such as Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting, waste management regulations, labour codes and data protection. A culture of awareness and accountability should be driven through ESG training and awareness programmes for employees and business leaders, clearly explaining the rationale behind each ESG goal and using case studies to demonstrate how ESG lapses can lead to reputational and financial harm.
Effective implementation also requires cross-functional collaboration, with Legal working closely with Operations to ensure sustainability in supply chains, with Finance to link ESG metrics to financial disclosures and investor communications, with IT and data teams to ensure privacy, cybersecurity and digital ethics form part of the governance pillar, and with CSR and HR to align diversity, inclusion and community engagement initiatives.
Progress should be measured, monitored and reported through ESG dashboards and scorecards, ensuring data integrity and assurance in ESG reporting, supporting independent audits to strengthen credibility, and regularly briefing the Board on compliance gaps and improvements, while promoting ethical leadership and long-term thinking by encouraging decisions that balance short-term profits with long-term sustainability, advocating ethical business practices beyond mere legal compliance, and building a network of ESG champions across departments to act as ambassadors for responsible business conduct.
What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about? Why is this?
The cause that I am passionate about is promoting Ethical business practise.
I am passionate about fostering ethical business practices because I believe integrity is the foundation of sustainable success. In an increasingly complex regulatory environment, it is easy for short-term goals to overshadow long-term values. I’ve seen how a culture of compliance and transparency not only protects a company legally but also builds trust with employees, investors, and the community. I want to contribute to creating workplaces where doing the right thing is embedded in the DNA of decision-making.