Nuclear energy turns saffron

Modi: Instead of megawatts, we are talking gigawatts

A $350-million Indo-Canadian nuclear agreement has emerged the hallmark achievement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s summit with his counterpart here, not only for its potential to meet India’s energy demands but also for the new era of “trust” between the two nations.



Mr. Modi expressed confidence on Wednesday that the deal with the Saskatoon-based Cameco Corporation would help to supply reactors to India, with up to seven million pounds of uranium concentrate over five years.

In his speech before an 8,000-strong audience of mostly Indo-Canadians, Mr. Modi appeared focussed on India’s energy needs as he alluded on several occasions to the “saffron revolution,” indicating the thrust on nuclear, solar, wind, biomass and energy saving missions of his administration. “Saffron is a colour of energy. We have to have an energy revolution in India,” he said, adding that while “India always spoke of megawatts, for the first time we are talking about gigawatts — 175 gigawatts of renewable energy.”

At the heart of Mr. Modi’s speech was his repeated assertion, jan man badla hai , or “The minds of the people have changed,” over his 10 months in office, and that India was finally on the move.

Defending his record on the Jan Dhan Yojana, he said 14 crore bank accounts had been opened within his first 100 days in office, and despite starting with a zero bank balance, the poor had saved Rs.14,000 crore.

Mr. Modi received the loudest cheers from the audience when he announced that Canada would be included in the list of nations receiving a visa-on-arrival from India and that with the merger of the OCI and PIO cards, they would now have lifetime entry with OCI as well as Indian visas for 10 years.