Tulsi Tanti, founder, chairman and managing director of Suzlon Group and one of the pioneers of India’s wind and renewable energy sector, passed away at the age of 64 on Sunday. Tanti was on his way from Ahmedabad to Pune when he suffered a cardiac arrest.

He was visiting Ahmedabad to attend a series of meetings in connection with Suzlon’s ongoing Rs 1,200 crore rights issue.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled his demise, tweeting: “Shri Tulsi Tanti was a pioneering business leader who contributed to India’s economic progress and strengthened our nation’s efforts to further sustainable development.”

Rajkot-born Tanti founded Suzlon in 1995 and spearheaded the wind energy revolution in the country, took the company public, and made it one of the the leading renewable energy firms not only in India, but also globally with a slew of overseas acquisitions.

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Its October 2005 IPO valued Suzlon at Rs 13,850 crore and made Tanti, who owned 70% of the company, a billionaire.

Suzlon manufactures wind turbine generators and provided operations and maintenance services as a separate business. Tanti conceptualised the end-to-end solutions model in the Indian wind energy market, creating investing avenues for wind energy investors.

“In this difficult time, the company continues to be supported by its highly experienced board of directors and senior management who are both able and committed to take Shri Tanti’s legacy forward and realise his vision for the company,” Suzlon tweeted from the group’s official handle said.

Suzlon had an installed wind energy capacity of 13.45 giga watt (GW) in India as of June 30, contributing to approximately 33% of India’s wind base and an installed capacity of 5.96 GW outside India, aggregating to 19.41 GW.

But the last few decade had been challenging for the company, weighed down by debt, defaults, and losses. The company was also navigating an uncertain policy landscape in the country.

The company was working on restructuring its debt and had completed debt refinancing, resulting in removal of decade-long debt overage, it said at an investor call in August. Refinancing was completed in May and the full effect of finance cost reduction would be visible from Q2FY23, it said.

The company said there was significant improvement in net worth after conversion of financial instruments. Net debt reduced by more than 50% from Rs 5,796 crore as of March to Rs 2,774 crore as of June, leading to a significantly healthier balance sheet post-refinancing, the company had said.

Suzlon Energy’s Rs 1,200 crore rights issue is slated to open on October 11. The funds raised through the issue will be used for repayment or pre-payment of a portion of certain outstanding borrowings. The promoters and promoter group had confirmed their participation and to fully subscribing to the extent of their rights entitlement.

The issue is of 2,400 million partly paid-up equity shares of the face value of Rs 2 each for cash at a price of Rs 5, including a premium of Rs 3 per equity share. It is in the ratio of 5:21.

On Sunday, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that having spearheaded the wind revolution in India, Tanti had contributed immensely to the renewable energy sector and to India’s economic progress. The ministry of new and renewable energy’s official Twitter handle remembered Tanti as a visionary and a passionate business leader.

Sumant Sinha, founder and CEO of ReNew Power, said: “He was the one who got me into the renewable energy industry and made it more interesting through the sheer force of his personality.”

Adani Transmission MD & CEO Anil Sardana hailed Tanti’s immense contribution to the evolution of renewable energy in India, saying the industry would miss his stewardship. SGA founder and CEO Samir Shah, too, mourned the loss of his “mentor”.

Tanti championed the cause of renewable energy and the transition of the country from fossil fuel to renewable energy long before these became buzzwords. He was the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2006′, a Time Magazine ‘Hero of the Environment’, and United Nations’ ‘Champion of the Earth’. He was a former chairman of the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association, chairman of the CII Renewable Energy Council, and an active member of global environment and energy forums.

Tanti’s last rites will be performed in Pune on Monday. His close family members are travelling abroad and are expected to return on Monday. Tanti is survived by his wife Gita, a homemaker, son Pranav and daughter Nidhi, who are both associated with the company. Among Tanti’s three younger brothers, Vinod and Girish, are on the Suzlon board.