Page 10 - 8th Convocation

development is of course meaningless. A Small country like North Korea can threaten a big country like Japan
because it has power - nuclear weapons which Japan because they lost the Second World War at that moment
it doesn’t have. You want an India at present where human development index - the average quality of life and
country is high. You and I are very fortunate people, you are able to get a quality education at a good university.
How many bright talented people are there who have no access to this kind of quality education. Of course, there
are what we call sustainable development goes first to remove poverty, then no hunger, then good health and well-
being so on, good jobs and it is very important that the human development index by the time you become adults I
hope it will go to the top 10 countries from Somalia in 100 today. The United Nations defines human development
index in terms of three parameters - per capita gross national products, life expectancy at birth and adult literacy.
I have been saying by 20-30 years now we need only two parameters at the moment for a country like India - per-
capita electricity consumption and female literacy. I prefer female literacy to adult literacy. India cannot become
a developed country unless becomes near cent percent literate without gender discrimination. Gujarat is pretty
good; however, it has to catch up states like Kerala which is much better. Gujarat stands much better certainly in
per capita electricity consumption and if we have to grow by 6 to 8 times to provide energy security to India and
also do it in the context of this threat of climate change.

Climate change is real we can’t wish it away. The International Panel on Climate Change in its latest
assessment report says and I quote “warming of the climate system is unequivocal”. Over the period between 1880
and 2012, the world has warmed by the average one degree. The amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea
level has risen. If you don’t cut down your greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gas is going to settle upstairs,
prevent the infrared radiation to go back into space and that’s what lead to global warming. So, we have to go
for technologies which minimize greenhouse gas emissions. Particularly, in power production, that is why IPCC
recommends renewable energy, nuclear, carbon capture and storage, biological methods - grow trees, forests.
of course, it takes a period of time. It takes off carbon dioxide from the system and this government has been
very favourable to both the Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande. In the
2000 meeting, the Human Forum on Climate Change has got together and formed this International Solar Alliance
headquarter in Gurgaon (now Gurugram) just near Delhi, a very ambitious programme on renewable energy like
solar and wind – both Solar Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal. At the first time in India’s history, the government has
sanctioned 10 reactors at the same time - 700 megawatt reactors. Well, as if you see go on giving it in dribbles
one reactor and another reactor, the industry doesn’t get very much interested. They must know they can setup
assembly-lines, have trained a group of people then they would like to; otherwise what happens the next order
doesn’t come those who have been trained a year they go to developing other technologies because they can’t be
kept idle for that. So, this has been a very good step by the Government to give clearance for 10 - 700 megawatts
and that is indigenous.

India has used these two methods of indigenization. A business indigenization and like for the nuclear
submarine reactor but also progressive indigenization - import and then you indigenize that is what we did to
Prestige heavy water reactors. We imported 220-megawatt reactors from Canada, came-up in Rawatbhata near
Kota and then the next step was the stage of reactors of this kind of reactors 540 megawatts – 700 megawatts
are all our own. In fact, India is a leading country now in pressurized heavy water reactors. And then they closed
nuclear reactors and take the plutonium from this and then build up fast breeder reactors which coming up in
Kalpakum and so on. So, this is a method that can be used in other technologies, we should go - today’s India
and future India should go for international collaboration but on an equal partner basis. Those days when we had
to receive a demon for satisfying the food requirements of the country those have all gone. But still, it is necessary
the one who has that is what the NITI AYOG strategies says “India @ 75” strategies that on one end you support
private industry to come up but at the same time, you should bring all those people who are what they call at the
bottom of the pyramid – C K Prahalad’s Pyramid. They should all get a good quality of life.

The one factor that distinguishes developed countries from developing countries like India is that if you
go to US or Germany or other developed countries you find that the knowledge in the industrial system and the
knowledge in the academic system that two are in thermodynamic equilibrium - the two are very close to one
another. Of course, the academics are always ahead and so the industry is waiting. In Stanford, MIT, industries
are waiting for new knowledge to come out of the academic system so that they can make use of it. In fact, they

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