Davos, January 21
The International Solar Alliance on Wednesday highlighted India's success in providing cheap solar power to millions of homes and farmers. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, it was explained how programmes like the "Surya Ghar" rooftop scheme and "PM KUSUM" for solar water pumps can be used by other countries to help their citizens get electricity and grow food more easily.
Regarding the scale of these Indian initiatives, Ashish Khanna, Director General, International Solar Alliance, said, "The International Solar Alliance is an association of 125 countries based out of India, and we have come to Davos to talk about three things. First, India's experience with decentralised solar energy through rooftops, through the Surya Ghar scheme, reaching one crore (10 million) people and households. And second, on PM KUSUM through the solarisation of agriculture. These are very important lessons for the rest of the world, and we are showcasing how India's experience with solar at low cost and scale can be replicated across the world. The second issue that we are here to talk about is that the future of energy is linked with AI and digitalisation. We want to work with countries on how AI applications for energy can help bring down costs through innovation, but also improve skills so that people can get jobs in AI. We are having a session on how the AI summit happening in India next month can be used to bring all the countries together to launch a global AI mission for energy, hosted by the ISA. The third session, which is very important, is that energy requires a huge amount of money; $2.1 trillion was spent last year. But we need to increase that to three or four trillion dollars. How can we get more long-term concessional finance invested in renewable energy across all member countries?"
The 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is being held from January 19 to 23, 2026, at Davos-Klosters, welcoming nearly 3,000 participants from over 130 countries, including a record number of world leaders, CEOs, innovators and policymakers, under the theme "A Spirit of Dialogue."
World leaders from government, business, civil society, and academia will convene in Davos to engage in forward-looking discussions on global issues and set priorities. The call for bold collective action makes the meeting particularly relevant. India is Pitched as One of the World's Fastest-Growing Renewable Energy Markets at Davos. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi urges global investors to partner in India's rapid clean energy expansion at the World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos.
- ANI
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