Archive · 9 Aug 2026
From textile mill to India's biggest wind energy company
There once was a man in India named Tulsi Tanti who had a factory that made cloth.
The electricity in his area kept going out, so he bought two windmills to make power for his factory.
He soon found that making electricity from wind was a better business than making cloth.
So in 1995, he started a company called Suzlon Energy that makes big wind turbines.
The company grew and grew, buying companies in Europe and becoming one of the biggest wind power companies in the world.
But then Suzlon borrowed too much money and got into big trouble, and banks had to help fix it.
Tulsi Tanti passed away in 2022, and his brothers took over the company.
Today, Suzlon is out of debt and makes about a third of all the wind power in India.
People remember Tulsi Tanti as the 'Wind Man of India.'
In 1995, Gujarat textile mill owner Tulsi Tanti founded Suzlon Energy with $600,000 raised primarily from selling family property.
Suzlon grew through acquisitions, including a 2007 deal worth roughly $1.8 billion for an 87% stake in German turbine maker REpower Systems.
By 2012-13, Suzlon defaulted on $208 million in bond redemptions and owed banks more than Rs 13,000 crore.
In March 2013, 19 banks led by State Bank of India restructured about Rs 9,500 crore of Suzlon's debt; lenders later agreed to a 60% haircut.
After Tanti's death in October 2022, Suzlon became net debt-free by 2024-25, with more than 20.8 GW of installed capacity and roughly 32% of India's wind market.
- Who
- Tulsi Tanti, founder and chairman of Suzlon Energy, and his brothers Vinod and Girish Tanti, who took over after his death in October 2022.
- What
- The rise, debt crisis, regulatory scrutiny, and turnaround of Suzlon Energy, India's biggest wind energy company.
- When
- Founded in 1995; crisis in 2012-13; debt restructured in March 2013; Tanti died in October 2022; turnaround completed by 2024-25.
- Where
- Founded in Gujarat, India, with expansion in Germany, Belgium, China, the US (Minnesota), and later projects across 17 countries.
- Why
- Tanti bought wind turbines to keep his textile factory running amid erratic power supply and found wind power more profitable than textiles.
- Founder
- Tulsi Tanti (born February 2, 1958, in Rajkot, Gujarat)
- Founded
- 1995
- Seed capital
- $600,000, raised primarily from selling family property
- IPO
- Listed October 9, 2005; oversubscribed over 15 times
- Key acquisition
- 87% stake in REpower Systems for roughly $1.8 billion (2007)
- Debt restructured
- About Rs 9,500 crore in March 2013 by 19 banks led by State Bank of India
- SEBI penalty
- Rs 28.95 crore for accounting irregularities
- India wind market share
- About 32%