New Delhi: In an exclusive interview with Times Now, Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and philanthropist, shared his insights on sustainability and green energy, emphasising the need for innovative solutions to tackle environmental challenges. Speaking with Navika Kumar, Group Editor-in-Chief, Times Network, Gates shared his collaboration with the Indian government, particularly through the Gates Foundation and also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “engaging” with the issue and getting the industrialists in India to think about this critical issue.
Gates believes India will play a major role in addressing the issue, describing it as a very important place to scale up innovations that will help mitigate long-term damage.
He also recounted his interactions with PM Modi during his time as Chief Minister of Gujarat, recalling that PM Modi sent him a report discussing emissions in Gujarat.
“It’s an issue that he’s engaged in. He asks very good questions about it. He’s got the industrialists in India thinking about these things. It’s a big challenge because India shouldn’t have to pay a lot extra to go green. We need to help with innovations,” he said.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates also highlighted the difficulty of India’s move to renewable energy. Gates acknowledged that going green is the need of the hour but also marked that it should put burden on India too much financially.
“We need to help with innovations. The coal usage probably is not going to go down too quickly, but the sooner we get started on this, the more progress we’ll make,” he added.
Bill Gates also lauded India’s vaccine coverage and credited the country’s federal structure, which allows for greater resource transfer to poorer states. Gates believed “India is on track” when it comes to health and agriculture sectors.
Gates also lauded India for running substantial programmes, including mid-day meal. “India has substantial programs, such as midday meal, trying to make sure that the food that’s used there is very nutritious food. So a lot of the pioneering of doing better on malnutrition, we’re doing that with our partners in India because even though it’s not a solved problem, the effort being made there is very impressive,” he stated.
