Davos/New Delhi:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the focus points of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos. HCL Tech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra, recognising the role that AI plays and will play in the years to come, shared some insights on the matter in an interview to NDTV.

Ms Malhotra said AI is the “most democratised” technology compared to some of the tech that came before it.

“I think the operative word is 10 years because people don’t realise that even when tech revolutions come, they take a certain period of time before adoption. And what’s been great about AI is that perhaps in comparison to some of the tech innovations from before, it’s the most democratised at the moment,” the Chairperson of one of the most impressive firms that India has anywhere in the world told NDTV.

“If you look at young people today, everybody is already using this open source architecture and tech in their everyday lives for productivity. If I look 10 years from now, I think it will certainly become like how the internet is in the way people and companies use it,” Ms Malhotra said.

With generative AI seen to be a long-term growth driver, the HCL Tech Chairperson said it is a very competitive area, and it is all about how a tech firm couples generative AI with existing services while offering it to clients.

“For example, we have broken our AI offerings into four. We have the AI Force, which is our platform where we look at the software life cycle development and how you can actually shrink that, make it more productive.

“We have got the AI foundry, which is working on managed services, the cognitive infrastructure of companies, the data, and data is like the underlying platform for AI, which is absolutely integral. We have built a network of AI labs, and we have done this over the last 12 months,” Ms Malhotra said, adding they have labs in California, London, Munich, two in India and one in Singapore.

“We are able to leverage solutions globally. So sometimes, you’re working with let’s say an oil and gas company in the US and you’ve got certain AI solutions. We can apply that to let’s say customers in Singapore who are working in a similar industry and looking for a similar solution,” Ms Malhotra said.

She said the AI lab is the third and AI engineering is the fourth offering from HCL Tech.

The five-day meeting at Davos that began on Monday is exploring how to relaunch growth, harness new technologies and strengthen social and economic resilience, according to the World Economic Forum. The global meeting is seeing participation by nearly 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries, including 350 governmental leaders.

India’s participation at Davos aims to strengthen partnerships, attract investment, and position the country as a global leader in sustainable development and technological innovation. India sent five Union ministers, three chief ministers, and ministers from several other states to the WEF this time.

Davos:

Any further sanctions against Russia will not have any impact on India’s crude oil requirements and the global prices should remain stable in the USD 75-80 per barrel range, as all sanction fears have already been factored in, Indian Oil Chairman Arvinder Singh Sahney said on Thursday.

Speaking to PTI here during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, he also said there are several energy sources that can be tapped to meet India’s energy requirements in case of any eventuality.

Asked about the Indian participation at Davos, Mr Sahney said it feels great to see India with a big presence here.

“It helps as so many global corporates we can meet here at a single place. We can exchange ideas with all of them, and that’s good for the company and economy as a whole,” he added.

On Donald Trump’s second US presidency and its impact on India, he said it should be positive for the energy sector because “he has emphasised that we have to produce more energy and we are not averse to more energy sources. It is always better to have more and more energy sources”.

India imports nearly 87 per cent of crude oil, and if the country gets more than one source, it would be better, he said.

On fears that Trump can impose more sanctions on Russia if the war doesn’t stop, he said it would not have any major impact.

“Before the Ukraine war started, India used to get less than 2 per cent oil from Russia. After the war started and Russia was not allowed to sell to Europe etc, we started getting more from Russia.

“If that goes down due to sanctions, we have other sources to compensate for that. We have not left our other sources, whether they are in the Gulf, OPEC, OPEC-plus, the US, Guyana or Brazil,” he added.

Also, he said, there are new non-OPEC countries, and there is no dearth of crude oil.

“What price we will get, what would be quantity and how the transportation will happen, we will look into all of that, but I can assure you that there won’t be any impact on availability or the energy security of the country,” the IOC chief said.

On what impact it can have on global crude prices, Mr Sahney said there should not be much effect on global prices.

When the sanctions were first imposed, the prices had gone up to USD 83 per barrel, but it has come down slowly in the last 5-7 days, and now, it is around USD 79, he explained.

“All the concerns were already factored in…and my personal assessment is that it will be in the range of USD 75-80,” he said.

On budget expectations, he said the support needed from the government for the energy sector is already there, and there is no further specific demand as of now. “Whatever specific support we need, we are already getting, and we do not think there would be anything negative for us in the budget,” he noted.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Davos/New Delhi:

Maharashtra, one of the largest states in India, has a huge presence at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. The team is led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who told NDTV electric vehicles (EVs) are an area where the state has a major focus. He also called for embracing AI and not ignoring the impending disruptions.

“EVs are the future. We are getting a lot of investments in EV manufacturing. GSW, Mahindra, Toyota are building plants; many global players plan to build EVs in our state,” Mr Fadnavis said.

“Having said that, we are focussing on public transport and including a lot of EVs. The BMC (civic agency) has placed an order for 5,000 EVs. Pune already has a fleet of 1,000 EVs. The MSRTC, which is our state transport, has placed an order for 5,000 electric vehicles. The entire transition of public transport to EV is going on,” the Chief Minister said.

He said he hopes to see the entire public transport fleet to be fully green in three-four years.

Defence Manufacturing

The defence sector is something which is important obviously for a larger national perspective. Bharat Forge has a great deal of presence in Maharashtra. This is an area that is developing because India is now increasingly an exporter of weaponry.

In this context, Mr Fadnavis said that fortunately, Maharashtra has created an ecosystem for defence equipment manufacturing.

“This huge ecosystem has been created in Nagpur and other parts of Maharashtra. We have signed MoUs with Bharat Forge and other companies that are bringing FDI in defence manufacturing,” he said.

The Chief Minister said manufacturing got a boost due to the import obligation started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which made it obligatory for companies to have parts manufactured in India.

“That started the ecosystem and now we are actually producing equipment and even exporting equipment,” he said.

Mr Fadnavis announced his government is looking to build an “Innovation City” of 100 hectares near Mumbai.

‘Can’t Shy Away From AI’

With artificial intelligence (AI) the buzzword at Davos, Mr Fadnavis pushed for accepting AI with a wide embrace and not worrying so much about AI taking away jobs.

“See, the same argument was there when computers were Introduced and a host of our leaders also used to say that ‘we are ruining our country by accepting computers’. They would say we’ll be jobless and will never progress and many arguments were put forth.

“But I always feel that you cannot shy away from technology. We are actually a globalised community and in such a community if you say that ‘I’m not using AI’, it doesn’t work. You have to. Technology is like a horse; you have to ride it. You have to know how to ride the horse.

“I think we must know that AI is the reality. AI is going to change the job market. AI is going to create new jobs. AI is going to take away some old jobs. So upskilling and reskilling and creating a human resource, which can augment these jobs is the prime responsibility of the government,” Mr Fadnavis told NDTV.

The five-day meeting at Davos that began on Monday is exploring how to relaunch growth, harness new technologies and strengthen social and economic resilience, according to the World Economic Forum. The global meeting is seeing participation by nearly 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries, including 350 governmental leaders.

India’s participation at Davos aims to strengthen partnerships, attract investment, and position the country as a global leader in sustainable development and technological innovation. India sent five Union ministers, three chief ministers, and ministers from several other states to the WEF this time.

Davos/New Delhi:

Andhra Pradesh is working hard to become a green hydrogen hub and to take the lead in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) development, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu told NDTV at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos.

Green hydrogen is a clean energy source that only emits water vapour and leaves no residue in the air.

Mr Naidu, who comes to Davos as part of the ‘India Story’, said he is keeping a keen eye on the latest global trends on investments.

“Green energy, green hydrogen, and AI are hot subjects globally. We want to promote and be leaders in them,” Mr Naidu said.

He said there are two sides to the speed of doing business.

“Speed of doing business is one aspect. The other aspect is how departments can work to deliver services to citizens effectively and efficiently. We are in an inspiring time. We have access to historical data at a time when AI is becoming mature,” the Chief Minister said, adding the combination of real-time data collection, update, and integration will help in creating quick solutions.

“Earlier, I used to talk about transparency. Now, it is a matter of knowledge enhancement. That is what is happening. Speed of doing business is a reality. Business always has to be done within a stipulated time and that is where we are working,” Mr Naidu said. “Investors have confidence and faith in us because of a fast track record.”

Green Hydrogen

While Andhra wants to be a leader in the area of producing green hydrogen, globally green hydrogen is considered expensive. On whether he is confident that the price will be something which will be viable for people across India, Mr Naidu said, “Global warming is a reality and we are crossing 1.5 [degree Celsius]. Everybody is worried and we are seeing the impacts all over the world. The issue is how to bridge the gap between countries on green energy and green hydrogen. In our state, if you can go for solar, wind and pumped energy, compared to your traditional energy, our average power procurement cost will be less as on today.”

He said the area of green hydrogen is slowly maturing, citing the NTPC project for green hydrogen in Visakhapatnam that costs Rs 1.87 lakh crore.

“Greenco is going in a big way. Already, they produced a hybrid model, solar, wind, pumped energy, green energy and now they want to go for green ammonia. They will start producing within a year and are tying up with buyers. So, this is a reality that is slowly maturing,” Mr Naidu said.

Drone City

Mr Naidu’s government is working to develop a ‘drone city’ in the state. This will increase mechanisation and bring with it a lot of changes. He gave the example of how drones can take over part of police patrolling work.

“I had to deploy many personnel for police patrolling earlier. Now I can deploy two-three drones and they will patrol. The personnel will intervene and go to the site when needed,” Mr Naidu said. “Many other similar applications can be developed in the area of health, education, medicine. When there is a flood, I cannot reach every home. I can send relief material using drones. India has some distance to go for drone applications, which is why I want to prepare use cases.”

He said Andhra can give proof of concept, and if it is proven to work, then manufacturers can take over and scale it up.

“This is the model we are working on,” Mr Naidu said.

Amaravati Project

Mr Naidu said he developed Hyderabad and created Cyberabad in undivided Andhra, and after bifurcation he has been compelled to develop one more city, Amaravati. “Naturally, it will be the grandest with new technologies and environmental sustainability. India needs new cities… After Chandigarh, cities have only expanded but no new ones have been created.”

Mr Naidu said the Centre is doing its best to help the state.

“But my state was in deep trouble after five years of rule, total destruction. Amaravati was almost defunct and destroyed. Polavaram was derailed. Development was totally stopped. I had so many problems… NDA is helping us, but overnight we cannot transform things. A good thing is changes are happening very fast and Amaravati is on track. Polavaram is also going on,” Mr Naidu told NDTV.

The five-day meeting at Davos that began on Monday is exploring how to relaunch growth, harness new technologies and strengthen social and economic resilience, according to the World Economic Forum. The global meeting is seeing participation by nearly 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries, including 350 governmental leaders.

India’s participation at Davos aims to strengthen partnerships, attract investment, and position the country as a global leader in sustainable development and technological innovation. India sent five Union ministers, three chief ministers, and ministers from several other states to the WEF this time.

New Delhi:

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, can “fundamentally transform governance”, Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh told NDTV Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland’s Davos.

Mr Lokesh also played down fears the (inevitable) advance of AI, and machine learning, will rob millions of their jobs. Instead, the “order of jobs” will be changed, he said, adding, “… I believe that over the next decade jobs are going to be created in areas that we are yet to discover.”

“Jobs under threat are typically white-collar jobs (but) I think every industrial revolution has shown that it (eventually) creates more jobs… history shows us that. So, I don’t believe AI will reduce jobs.”

AI – and its possible impact on jobs – has been a hot button topic at Davos this year, particularly for a country like India, which is primarily agrarian and already faces worrying levels of unemployment.

On Tuesday Gita Gopinath, the Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, told NDTV an estimated 26 per cent of the country’s total workforce may be “exposed” to AI platforms.

The message, however, wasn’t all doom and gloom. She indicated yesterday, as Mr Lokesh said today, that 14 per cent of those jobs will benefit and the rest would face a “displacement effect”.

READ | “26% Of India’s Jobs Exposed To AI, But…”: Gita Gopinath At Davos

And those comments seemed to agree with what Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, said at the NDTV World Summit in October last year; he acknowledged the advance of AI as “inevitable”, but argued it would bring in “new kinds of jobs… new scales of jobs”.

READ | “AI Inevitable, Will Bring New Kinds Of Jobs”: Amitabh Kant To NDTV

With that idea – that AI can create various kinds of jobs – Mr Lokesh gave NDTV insights into how Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s government is harnessing the power of tech.

“I think AI can transform governance at a fundamental level. One example of what we’re doing is education and to help students go from being a passive to an active learner. We’re doing this project… a 45-minute class is followed by a two-minute video with five questions at the end.”

“And, based on the answers, we’re using AI to prescribe homework.”

Mr Lokesh also spoke about other examples, such as using AI – in collaboration with companies like Meta and Google – to identify beneficiaries for welfare schemes and to deliver those services.

“I think the government’s role is to create use-cases (for AI) that can then be scaled up,” he said, adding that the Andhra Pradesh government is particularly interested in exposing women, students, and farmers to AI to help them double their incomes, in certain cases, and transform their lives.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Davos/New Delhi:

Israel’s Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat has sought Hamas to be replaced with people who recognise the state of Israel and who are “peace-seeking”. In an interview to NDTV at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Mr Barkat also spoke on a range of matters, including Israel and India’s close ties, India’s huge investment in the Haifa Port, the potential of the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor, and how two countries’ ties are driven by the equation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr Barkat agreed that terrorism has impacted both countries.

On Israel’s expectation whether the Gaza ceasefire would hold and all the hostages would be returned, the Israeli minister told NDTV, “Well, our heart is there. They were kidnapped from their homes with their pajamas. They did nothing. And unfortunately, the terrorists of Hamas kidnapped them while raping, killing, brutally beheading people. And so now there’s a deal that at least we can bring a few of them back.”

“Strategically, it has to be very, very clear. Hamas cannot survive after this exchange of bringing our hostages back. Strategically, it must be replaced with people that recognize the state of Israel, that are peace-seeking. Otherwise, Hamas wants to do that [terror attack] again. Their charter, the jihadi charter, is to terrorise Israel, to have another October 7. We will not allow that to happen,” Mr Barkat said.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had launched an operation in the West Bank’s Jenin that Mr Netanyahu said aimed to “eradicate terrorism” in the area. Jenin and its refugee camp are known bastions of Palestinian militancy and Israeli forces frequently launch raids against armed factions there.

To a question by NDTV whether Hamas is essentially finished as a viable terrorist organisation after Israel’s military actions in Gaza over a period of time, Mr Barkat cautioned against assuming Hamas has been rendered ineffective.

“Well, unfortunately, no. Their charter, their goal is to wipe Israel off the map. They’re jihadists. They want to return to power. They will not allow anybody else to develop, to seek peace with Israel as long as they’re in power. They cannot be. They will not be, not militarily and not on the civil side. They cannot lead Gaza. And if, God forbid, they continue, they think they will, we will never have peace with them,” Mr Barkat told NDTV.

On Hezbollah, Iran And Nuclear Weapon

The Israeli minister pointed at Iran and Qatar as “the biggest funder of terror around the world”. Iran and Qatar have been funding both Hezbollah and Hamas, Mr Barkat said, adding the focus should be on ensuring Iran does not become a nuclear power.

“We have to focus on making sure that Iran does not become a nuclear power and is weakened, and so that we can actually expand the Abraham Accords with the Saudis, Indonesia, and other moderate Arab states. It’s a charter that we have together in the free world to combat terrorism. I know that India is also challenged with terror,” Mr Barkat said.

The Abraham Accords are agreements to normalise ties between Israel and many Arab states. They were signed in 2020. The accords were named in reference to the supposed common ancestor of the Jews and the Arabs, the biblical Abraham, and as an expression of brotherhood.

Regarding the developments in Syria, where a new regime has taken over, Mr Barat said, “We always hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, because unfortunately the ones that are now leading Syria are again jihadists. Hopefully, they change their mind and seek peace. And mind you, we have had peace with Egypt for 40 years, with Jordan for 25 years, with the Abraham Accords four years. So Israel has demonstrated that if our neighbour wants to come to the table and collaborate with us and create peace, we will find a way.”

“They have to recognise the state of Israel. They have to wish for peace. The peace we have with the Emirates is amazing, really good economy, really good stability,” he added.

On India-Israel Ties

Mr Barkat said he will bring the “biggest ever” delegation of chief executives, entrepreneurs and trade to India on February 11, and meet with his Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal.

“There’s high interest today between India and Israel to expand collaborations. We are really, really good in technology. India is really good in scope and size and it’s a good match. I’m bringing a big, the biggest ever, huge mission of CEOs, entrepreneurs and trade to India on February 11. It’s going to be hosted by Piyush Goel,” Mr Barkat told NDTV. “And then another mission will come to Israel and we want to do more business in high tech, health tech, agro tech, food tech, desert tech, aqua tech, advanced industry, and of course security.”

The Israeli minister said India and Israel’s equation is a classic infrastructure to do a lot of business-to-business because “there’s a really good prime minister to prime minister relationship, good government to government, good people to people.”

He agreed the personal chemistry between PM Modi and Netanyahu “is extremely important” in driving the relationship between the two countries.

“I have to thank Modi because he’s the first to call Netanyahu on October 7 and to give his support to Israel. We will never forget that. Israel has a good memory. And when we have our tough times, to have that phone call and support is extremely meaningful for us. And we’re very thankful,” Mr Barkat said.

Haifa Port And Economic Corridor

Mr Barkat said Israel is open for business as far as the economic corridor through the Middle East, linking Mumbai and Israel and then on to Europe, is concerned.

“As to the corridor, we’re open for business. We want to make sure that the Saudis are on board, the Jordanians are on board, we’re on board, and we are planning our part between the port of Haifa towards Europe and Beit She’an towards Jordan and Mumbai,” the Israeli minister told NDTV.

Regarding support that Israel finds from people in India in its cause, Mr Barkat said he is “very optimistic”.

“… By overcoming the terror around us, we share how to do that with our friends. And India is a great friend of Israel. And so you could assume that all the knowledge and experience we have on security and on offense, on defence, and of course, on making food and having better health systems, all of that, we’d love to share with India.

“And that’s what we’re, you know, for me as Minister of Economy and Industry, India is now the highest priority. And that’s why I just had a meeting and I’m coming back for a meeting with a huge mission. Israelis are eager to see how we translate that relationship to do more and more business.

“India is the biggest country in the world in terms of population. And I see the growth, you have a really smart government focusing on growth. That size and growth and speed are an opportunity for Israelis. I’m very, very honoured that we can translate that trusted relationship to do more and more business,” Mr Barkat said.

With India focussing on the Make In India programme and the Atmanirbhar Bharat policy, the Israeli minister told NDTV there are a few things which both countries have to iron out to make sure that the partnership is in the best interest of both.

“That’s why the mission [in February] is coming. I have a number of security, big security companies coming with me on that mission. We want to make sure that we all feel comfortable in the model. It’s a unique model. And the scope and the scale of India, it makes sense to do that. We have to iron out the little details. And that’s one of the reasons why we’re coming to collaborate and work all the details out,” Mr Barkat said.

The five-day meeting at Davos that began on Monday is exploring how to relaunch growth, harness new technologies and strengthen social and economic resilience, according to the World Economic Forum. The global meeting is seeing participation by nearly 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries, including 350 governmental leaders.

India’s participation at Davos aims to strengthen partnerships, attract investment, and position the country as a global leader in sustainable development and technological innovation. India sent five Union ministers, three chief ministers, and ministers from several other states to the WEF this time.

Davos:

The Panama Canal was not a gift from the United States, President Jose Raul Mulino said Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump threatened to take it back.

“We reject in its entirety everything that Mr Trump has said. First because it is false and second because the Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama,” Mulino said during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“The Panama Canal was not a concession or a gift from the United States.”

Trump, in his inaugural address Monday, repeated his accusation that China was “operating” the Panama Canal through its growing presence around the waterway.

“We didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we’re taking it back,” Trump said.

The canal, inaugurated in 1914, was built by the United States but handed to Panama on December 31, 1999, under treaties signed some two decades earlier.

Panama has complained to the United Nations over Trump’s remarks, referring to an article of the UN Charter precluding any member from “the threat or use of force” against the territorial integrity or political independence of another.

China also said Wednesday that it had “never interfered in the affairs of the canal”.

Mulino was defiant, saying he was “not worried” and Panama would not be “distracted by this type of statement”.

“One cannot skip over public international law to impose criteria,” he said.

“But it also leads us to think that from this — let’s call it the crisis — there must also be opportunities to work on other issues that interest us with the United States.”

This could include security issues as well as migration, since Panama faces its own challenges on the border with Colombia, he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Davos:

India’s nuclear reactors are “absolutely safe” as it applies the highest levels of safety standards to its civil nuclear programme, the chief of global nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has told NDTV.

In an interview on the sidelines of Davos 2025, IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi was asked how safe India’s nuclear reactors are. ”Absolutely safe. India applies to its civilian nuclear programme the highest levels of internationally agreed and IAEA established nuclear safety standards and security guidance,” he replied.

On India’s fast-breeder nuclear reactor programme, the first of which is being developed at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu, Grossi said, “It could be an interesting add-on to its fleet.”

India has imposed a voluntarily moratorium on nuclear explosive testing since the Pokhran tests in 1998. Asked if New Delhi would be within its rights to test if China or Pakistan went ahead with nuclear tests, Gross replied, ”Our position and the position of the international community is that we should move to a general ban on nuclear testing so we hope that there won’t be a need for further testing, neither in the subcontinent nor elsewhere.”

To a question on whether India should be a part of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which currently has 48 countries as its members, the IAEA chief said, ”I have been President of the Nuclear Suppliers group and I interacted very actively in trying to bring this to an equitable solution, including with other countries which had similar aspirations. My interactions, even with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, were extremely useful. We were very close at the time to a good outcome.”

“Of course, there is a bigger, wider political scene which enters into the situation when it comes to that. This is for the members to decide,” he added.

To a question on whether the India-US civil nuclear deal is set to achieve its full potential as Washington DC tries to negotiate the liability clause that will enable it to build reactors in India, Grossi said it was for India and US to decide. What I can say is that the Indian civil nuclear programme is among the biggest and most diverse worldwide. “India has every [nuclear] technology and masters every technology in a very good way. I believe that with the current expansion and interest in nuclear energy, we are the best position to see those levels of cooperation and trade grow,” he said.

The IAEA chief also took questions on the situation in Ukraine and said there were several occasions when the watchdog feared a nuclear accident. “Zaporizhzia is right in the middle, on the frontline, extremely fragile. It has been subject to shelling, and more frequently, blackouts. This means loss of cooling function might have led to a nuclear accident. We are counting it by the day when we have situations like this. It is one of the biggest challenges that IAEA faces,” he said.

On the West Asia situation, Grossi said that while the nuclear watchdog does not have any evidence that Iran is building a nuclear weapon, it has accumulated vast levels of enriched Uranium which is “very, very close” to weapon-level grade. He also said the IAEA have not received Tehran’s full cooperation in inspections and in clarifying its questions.

Davos:

India’s nuclear reactors are “absolutely safe” as it applies the highest levels of safety standards to its civil nuclear programme, the chief of global nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has told NDTV.

In an interview on the sidelines of Davos 2025, IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi was asked how safe India’s nuclear reactors are. ”Absolutely safe. India applies to its civilian nuclear programme the highest levels of internationally agreed and IAEA established nuclear safety standards and security guidance,” he replied.

On India’s fast-breeder nuclear reactor programme, the first of which is being developed at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu, Grossi said, “It could be an interesting add-on to its fleet.”

India has imposed a voluntarily moratorium on nuclear explosive testing since the Pokhran tests in 1998. Asked if New Delhi would be within its rights to test if China or Pakistan went ahead with nuclear tests, Gross replied, ”Our position and the position of the international community is that we should move to a general ban on nuclear testing so we hope that there won’t be a need for further testing, neither in the subcontinent nor elsewhere.”

To a question on whether India should be a part of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which currently has 48 countries as its members, the IAEA chief said, ”I have been President of the Nuclear Suppliers group and I interacted very actively in trying to bring this to an equitable solution, including with other countries which had similar aspirations. My interactions, even with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, were extremely useful. We were very close at the time to a good outcome.”

“Of course, there is a bigger, wider political scene which enters into the situation when it comes to that. This is for the members to decide,” he added.

To a question on whether the India-US civil nuclear deal is set to achieve its full potential as Washington DC tries to negotiate the liability clause that will enable it to build reactors in India, Grossi said it was for India and US to decide. What I can say is that the Indian civil nuclear programme is among the biggest and most diverse worldwide. “India has every [nuclear] technology and masters every technology in a very good way. I believe that with the current expansion and interest in nuclear energy, we are the best position to see those levels of cooperation and trade grow,” he said.

The IAEA chief also took questions on the situation in Ukraine and said there were several occasions when the watchdog feared a nuclear accident. “Zaporizhzia is right in the middle, on the frontline, extremely fragile. It has been subject to shelling, and more frequently, blackouts. This means loss of cooling function might have led to a nuclear accident. We are counting it by the day when we have situations like this. It is one of the biggest challenges that IAEA faces,” he said.

On the West Asia situation, Grossi said that while the nuclear watchdog does not have any evidence that Iran is building a nuclear weapon, it has accumulated vast levels of enriched Uranium which is “very, very close” to weapon-level grade. He also said the IAEA have not received Tehran’s full cooperation in inspections and in clarifying its questions.

Davos:

Maharashtra, on the first day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth over Rs 4.99 lakh crore.

This substantial investment promises to create over 92,000 jobs across multiple sectors, including defence, renewable energy, steel, infrastructure, and more.

The largest deal announced was with the JSW Group, which will invest a staggering Rs 3 lakh crore in areas such as steel, renewable energy, cement, infrastructure, and electric vehicles (EVs).

This partnership is set to generate 10,000 jobs in Maharashtra, specifically in Nagpur and Gadchiroli. Chief Minister Fadnavis thanked Sajjan Jindal, Chairman of JSW, for his commitment to Maharashtra’s growth.

In another groundbreaking move, the state secured its first-ever agreement for Gadchiroli, a district that has traditionally seen less industrial development. The Kalyani Group will invest Rs 5,200 crore in defence, steel, and EV sectors, creating 4,000 jobs.

This marks a crucial step towards balancing economic growth across the state, with Gadchiroli being the first district to benefit from such a high-profile deal.

In total, a series of major investments were secured across various industries. Reliance Infrastructure committed Rs 16,500 crore to the defence sector in Ratnagiri, while Balasore Alloys Ltd. and Viraj Profiles Pvt. Ltd. will invest Rs 17,000 crore and Rs 12,000 crore respectively in steel and metals, creating thousands of jobs.

Notably, the food and beverages sector also saw significant investments, with AB InBev committing Rs 750 crore for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Bisleri International pledging Rs 250 crore for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), generating hundreds of new jobs.

The agreements span diverse fields including green energy, electronics, logistics, and IT. Among them is a Rs 30,000 crore investment from Wari Energy in solar devices, which will create 7,500 jobs in Nagpur. Another key deal involves Blackstone, which will invest Rs 25,000 crore in IT infrastructure across MMR, generating 1,000 jobs.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Fadnavis emphasised that the state’s commitment to “Ease of Doing Business” has been a critical factor in attracting such substantial investments. “There are long queues of investors outside. We are making the process fast, easy, and investor-friendly,” he stated.

Speaking to ANI, Fadnavis said, “We have signed an MoU with JSW worth Rs 3 lakh crore. It is a different portfolio. It includes EV, solar manufacturing and steel. Our diverse portfolio with JSW is very significant today…We had very good MoUs today. The speciality of MoUs is that they are from almost all fields and they are in various sectors of Maharashtra, various areas of divisions of Maharashtra. We had very good interaction with all the industries and they are very keen to invest in Maharashtra. We are getting investments in manufacturing, IT sector…”.

Notably, the state also secured an agreement with Fuel (Friends Union for Energizing Lives) to train 5,000 youths in Maharashtra in Artificial Intelligence, Digital Marketing, and Business Analytics. Fuel also expressed interest in establishing the Fuel Skilltech University in Pune.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)